


Bird of Paradise

by idola



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - 19th Century, Gen, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:41:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 56,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23303335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idola/pseuds/idola
Summary: Sinbad invites a number of esteemed guests to one of his island villas to celebrate Sindria's fifteenth year of prosperity.Murder is the last thing on anyone's mind, but as fate would have it, that's what they get.
Comments: 29
Kudos: 35





	1. The Rose-Colored Banquet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thought you saw the last of me writing long fics? Ha! (disclaimer: i do not mean 250k long this time. i mean like 50k long. have mercy on my hands)
> 
> just as the tags say, this is a murder mystery. i may be a romance author in my bones but that doesnt mean i cant kill for sport too

Wind carried the taste of the sea breeze as far as it could go. It changed the quality of the air as far as miles into the mainland. The first mouthful of salty air was a telltale sign they were getting close.

“We’re almost there, Ugo,” Aladdin said to himself. The carriage’s owner didn’t turn at his words. They weren’t meant for the driver, so Aladdin was grateful that he didn’t respond even if he heard.

“It’s been a long time since we saw Sinbad,” Aladdin said. “Do you remember him, Ugo? You only met him for a little while.”

Ugo didn’t respond. He knew he wouldn’t, but Aladdin needed someone to talk to on his long trip to Sinbad’s most secluded island estate, and once he got on a boat the sound of the waves might make it hard for Ugo to hear him. So he had to make sure he told Ugo everything he needed to know about the trip in advance.

“Sinbad is the one who’s always with a bunch of girls. I think that’s why you never really got to know him. He _is_ nice, though.” Though Aladdin didn’t stutter, he was unsure of his own words.

Sinbad’s estates were famous for their privacy along with their tropical beauty. Being invited to one was a clear message - that he was needed for some kind of a secret deal. His invitation said nothing other than that he was invited to celebrate the fifteenth year of Sindria’s prosperity and that as a direct descendant of Solomon and the ruler of Alma Torran, though only in name, Aladdin was invited to feast to Sinbad’s name.

If Alibaba had been the one to ask, Aladdin would be ecstatic at the chance to meet his friend over a celebration. But an invitation from Sinbad himself was… different somehow. Aladdin wanted to trust him, he really did. And going to the banquet was a show of trust. Then again, it might have been a lack of stupidity - to ignore a request to dine with Sinbad, the head of Sindria, whose power reached the bottom of the sea and the peak of the tallest mountains, would be social suicide. A bad move for his name and, more importantly, for his kingdom that was tied to his name.

Aladdin wasn’t one to care much about status or anything like that, but he didn’t want to do anything drastic over his vague discomfort, either.

“Ah! Ugo, look! It’s the ocean!”

The blue of the ocean was truly incomparable to anything else. It was darker and deeper than the sky, seagulls cheering greetings in their peculiarly fearless way. Even so, looking at it gave him the peculiar feeling of loneliness.

“Did you ever see the ocean?” Aladdin asked before realizing his mistake. “S, sorry. Is this your first time seeing it?”

Again, Ugo did not respond. Even so, Aladdin didn’t think he was holding it against him.

The dock was small - it wasn’t a port town dock or anything of the sort. It was a simple dock on the edge of a vast field littered with dunes.

It wasn’t that Sindria couldn’t afford something more grand. Aladdin’s invitation said that the dock was built to avoid attracting too much attention. It was not easy to hide an island - all you needed to reach it was to use a boat. The best way to conceal its location was to keep nearby docks as inconspicuous as possible.

The boat’s captain greeted him with a kind smile. Aladdin smiled back.

“You’re Aladdin? Oh, you’re just a boy! What’s King Sinbad up to now, inviting children to these political meetings?”

“I don’t know. But I hope nothing is wrong.”

“So do I, so do I. Shall we?” The man motioned to his boat, a strange metal contraption. All the boats Aladdin had seen before were of wood, and he stared at for a moment before deciding he’d best get out more. It was small but not so small that Aladdin was worried about getting lost at sea.

“How long will it take, mister?”

“Now, now! If I tell you that, then what was the reason for using a private pier? Enjoy the thrill of the mystery - it’ll make arriving all the better! Ever ridden in a motorboat before?”

The captain’s easy-going attitude was contagious, as was the cheery tune he was humming. Aladdin relaxed easily, even playing his flute along to their little tune after some playful urging.

The captain was entertaining enough that Aladdin only noticed once his throat was too sore to sing and play the flute loud enough that he could be heard over the boat’s engine that they’d been at sea for hours. For a motorboat, ‘hours’ was a long way away.

Then again, the sea stretched far in every direction. They might have been going in circles for all he knew.

“Mister, aren’t we almost there?”

“Oh, yes. Don’t worry, we’ll be there before sundown.”

And they were - barely.

The captain thanked Aladdin for his singing and playing at the island dock, no larger than the country pier they’d initially sailed out from.

“Have a good time, you hear? I’ll be back at the end of three days.”

“Are all these banquets really that long?”

“Of course! Well, most don’t have children though, or so I hear. Never been to one myself.”

“I see…”

“Don’t look so glum,” the captain said. “I know it must seem like a real adult party, all these formalities to think of, but our king’s a fair man. He’d never invite you if he didn’t think you’d fit right in.”

Aladdin smiled. “Thank you, mister.”

“Keep on following this path, and the mansion should be past the trees. Now be good, you hear?”

“Will do!”

The captain grinned to show a mouth with half the teeth Aladdin expected, got back in his little boat, revved the engine, and was off once more. He was a nice man, one whose kindness shone easily through both his words and eyes - Aladdin was young, but as Solomon’s son, he’d seen his fair share of people who could only force kindness into one of those.

Aladdin’s intuition was wise beyond his years, or so Ugo had told him. But it was necessary, living like he did. If he didn’t trust his intuition, what _could_ he trust?

Aladdin clutched his flute as he walked along the quickly darkening stone path into the forest. He’d never been on an island before, and it was somehow surprising that cicadas had found their way onto one. They and the persistent evening mosquitoes were his only company as he travelled far enough to make himself nervous.

“Ugo… do you think he might have dropped us off on the wrong island?”

Then he saw it.

Not a mansion, not even a house, but the other side of the coast.

The path never forked. Not even once. It was a straight path with no light poles, no fences, nothing but cobblestone. It was possible that there was never even any electricity on it in the first place.

“Hey! I was beginning to worry.”

Aladdin was too surprised at finding the sea again so soon to have any surprise left for the man in the boat. It had passed something worth being surprised at to something too normal.

“No words left for a greeting? Understandable. Shall we get going then?”

“Where?” Aladdin croaked out. His throat was still a touch sore from the journey, and he was starting to get thirsty. He didn’t want to trust this man by virtue of not being what he’d expected, but he really ought to follow any chance to get something to drink and eat while he could.

“To the banquet, of course.” He stood, a man of almost six feet tall. “I’m Sinbad. Do you remember me?”

Vaguely. Aladdin nodded.

“Sorry for making you walk all the way across this island. I promised you a private villa, and how private would it be if all the country’s captains knew of it?” Sinbad said laughed like it was obvious.

“I thought he was trustworthy,” Aladdin mumbled.

“Don’t worry about it, now. He’s paid handsomely for his work.” Sinbad beaconed to the padded seat at the back of the boat. “We don’t want to keep the other guests waiting.”

Aladdin nodded again and climbed in.

Sunset came and went. His only consolation was that Sinbad was just as entertaining as the last captain, warming the quickly cooling night air with tales of adventure.

“By the way, Aladdin, I carried Alibaba over just a bit ago. He said that he and you are friends. The world’s a small place, isn’t it?”

Aladdin smiled. “Balbadd’s far from Alma Torran, but we’ve been penpals since I can remember. He visited once, too.”

“When Ugo died, right? I heard. How sad for Alma Torran - first King Solomon, then Queen Sheba, and now… You have my condolences. I know how hard it can be.”

Aladdin cast a glance at his flute, lips rigid. Even if Ugo’s body was dead, he was sure that his spirit stayed close by. 

“We’re just about there,” Sinbad said, then flashed a charming smile. “Are you ready to see Alibaba?”

It was never about the food for Aladdin - it was about seeing his friends. Not just Alibaba, but Morgiana as well. Even though they’d only met once and Morgiana wasn’t very good at writing letters, she’d left a strong impact on him. He’d never forget seeing all the sights of Alma Torran, some for the first time, with his two very dear friends. Though his parents were already dead by then, time spent with Alibaba and Morgiana healed his wounds and helped him, along with Ugo, recover his smile.

They’d turned what should have been one of the darkest moments in his life into one filled with irreplaceable memories, and for that he’d always be thankful. Of course, many days were hard. They still were, more often than not. Old and grand of a country as it was, Alma Torran was most famous for its turmoil nowadays. As its sole prince, Aladdin was tasked with helping it get back on its feet.

When they arrived, Sinbad pulled a dry towel from under the wheel for Aladdin to wipe the sea spray from his face. He took it and did so, then wrapped it around his cold shoulders.

The path was lit on this island, unlike the last one. The sight of electricity was a relief. Sinbad spoke the whole way of dinner. “We have the best fish here,” he said. “There’s this dish where fresh snappers are boiled and wrapped in tropical leaves, and Ja’far just finished the clams smothered with butter. And how could I forget the fillets roasted with rose petals—”

Aladdin’s stomach gurgled at the thought. He hadn’t eaten since his early lunch on the road, and dried foods just weren’t the same as hot meals.

The mansion towered at the end of their path. Alma Torran was hardly known for their retreats - that honor went to their churches, just as numerous as shrubby trees on the horizon.

Actually, this was Aladdin’s first time seeing a real, modern villa. No one could afford to build in Alma Torran these days.

Lighthearted music spread through the heavy double doors, welcoming him in and urging him to throw his worries away. Sinbad pulled a door open and bowed with a smile.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the bright light, so different from the chilling dusk outdoors. The entrance room was lit with an impressive chandelier and framed with staircases on either side. In the middle sat an impressive reception covered in triple layered cakes, berry tarts, honey drizzled snacks. and phyllo pastries. Aladdin stepped in, removing the towel from his shoulders, to take in the warmth of the hall.

“Aladdin!”

Aladdin smiled at the nostalgic voice and only barely opened his arms before he was taken into a big hug, swept off his feet by enthusiasm alone. “Alibaba!”

Morgiana followed more slowly, and it took some effort to bring her into the hug too. They stayed there for a moment before Alibaba pulled away and started chattering.

Morgiana and Aladdin’s happy faces warmed him even more than the pleasantly heated landing. They each had hair in two shades of sunset and their arms wrapping around him helped warm him more than a towel ever could. They were his best friends, even if they’d only met face-to-face once before now, and excitement bubbled in Aladdin’s chest at the sight of them.

“The food here is _delicious,_ Aladdin! Come try some!”

Aladdin put a hand on his growling stomach. Despite his light lunch, he wasn’t too hungry for most of his trip here. Now that he was faced with the smell of food, he was suddenly ravenous.

“Don’t stuff yourself on tea snacks,” Sinbad said. “I still need to bring the last guests over. Then dinner will be served.”

“You mean dinner will be even better than the sponge cake?” Alibaba asked, eyes sparkling in excitement. “I can’t wait!”

A freckled man who was probably younger than the way he carried himself would have Aladdin believe hurried over with a proper blanket. “You must be cold,” he said to Aladdin. “Please, take this.”

“I’m okay,” Aladdin said. He took the blanket anyway when the man insisted. It was soft like a cloud and he couldn’t resist pulling it over his shoulders like a cape.

“Really, Sin, you should have started bringing the guests over sooner,” he scolded. “I could have helped bring them, too.”

“Now, now. You know how the waves are! On days like this, they need an experienced sailor.”

“Do you think it’ll really storm, then?”

Sinbad nodded. “The clouds may lie, but the waves never do. Each time I go out they’re feistier.”

The freckled man - a servant, most likely - frowned. “Take care, then.”

“Of course.”

Sinbad headed back out into the dark. Aladdin watched his back for a moment. If he was brave enough to sail out while expecting a storm, he was just like in his books.

“Isn’t he cool?” Alibaba whispered. “I’ve always wanted to meet Sinbad, you know!”

The servant closed the door behind Sinbad. “I apologize,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that you had to come so late, Aladdin.” He turned to face them and bowed. “I’m Ja’far. If there is anything you wish for during your stay, then please ask me. I will do everything in my power to make your time here as comfortable as possible.”

Ja’far’s kindness reached his beady eyes and Aladdin smiled, clutching the soft blanket closer. “Thank you, mister.”

“Could I take your bag?” Ja’far asked. “Your room is already prepared. I’ll give you the key after dinner, so please, relax and eat as much as you’d like until then.”

Aladdin nodded and thanked him once more as he slid his backpack off his shoulders. With the weight removed, he finally noticed how sore they were from carrying the long weekend’s clothes all this way.

Alibaba tugged on Aladdin’s blanket to pull him along to show him the snacks. “I like the cake best,” he said, pointing to the layered cake that looked delicious even when it was already half eaten. “Morgiana likes the crispy stuff best, though. Everything else is good too!”

“Did you save room for dinner?” Aladdin asked.

“I have a stomach for every meal!” Alibaba said proudly. Was that something to be proud of? Still, Aladdin laughed. He let Alibaba fill his plate with all the ‘must eats,’ which turned out to be pretty much everything.

Since the last time they met, a whole two years ago now, Alibaba hadn’t changed at all.

Alibaba was the youngest son of his father the king of Balbadd, born not to a duchess but to a prostitute in the slums of Balbadd. His brothers never let him hear the end of it, either. It made Alibaba reluctant to pursue a life in the top rings of Balbadd society - it was only his father’s soft-spoken encouragement that gave Alibaba the resolve to continue his studies. Aladdin had read the letters from Alibaba about his worries of home many times, often using them as something of a bedtime story to relax himself into sleep.

Also, Alibaba wasn’t popular with girls and was really bad at writing but thought he was really good at it. He’d always looked up to Sinbad, a famous adventurer and king, and he was just as excited to finally meet him as Aladdin thought he’d be.

“Sinbad said it was just a banquet this time, a real celebration, instead of one of those political things. I asked if Morgiana could come to see if that was true, and he said it was fine. So I guess it really is just for relaxing. So let’s have a good time, okay?”

Morgiana nodded with a smile. They were trying to cheer him up, weren’t they? Aladdin tried to shake the worry from his face.

“And it looks like what Sinbad said is true,” Alibaba continued. “There really are people from all over the world here.” He looked at Morgiana with a kind smile. “Maybe there will be someone who has a lead on your family.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! People from Reim to Kou. I don’t think it’ll be too crowded though. When I asked Sinbad if you could come, his response said that you would be the fifteenth person - lucky for us, since there are fifteen rooms! I guess someone else cancelled. ‘Didn’t feel like leaving his house for a party’ is what Sinbad wrote back. Who would miss a party like this?”

Morgiana smiled. A feast with no strings attached and another chance to find any family she might have was exciting on several accounts.

Morgiana had lived most of her life as a slave in Qishan. In her gratitude to Alibaba for freeing her, she worked with him to help the people of Balbadd while she searched for a lead on the Fanalis people. Now she was finally getting a chance to secure a lead by meeting the people who were most likely to know.

She didn’t say much, but she was the kind of cute girl that would make someone very happy one day. She’d been a slave for most of her life, but after being freed, she took a liking to Alibaba. Watching them always say the wrong things to each other was both funny and a little sad - they’d figure it out one day - at least, Aladdin hoped they would - but for now, they were both blissfully ignorant of what the other felt.

Right now Morgiana was eating even more than Alibaba, not concerned in the least about saving room for dinner. She’d have room. She always did. Aladdin giggled as she filled a plate with a slice of cake nearly as large as her own head.

She hadn’t been free for long when they first met, and it had showed. She hadn’t wanted to touch anything she didn’t have permission to touch or get seconds before someone told her it was okay. Right now, watching her eat as much as she wanted with no reservations, she looked very happy.

Morgiana’s homeland was a part of Alma Torran and the reason they met in the first place, but after seeing it devoid of her people, she decided that she was happier in Balbadd doing her best to help give relief to the slums - due to conflict, the country was always in need of nurses, and although Morgiana sometimes wasn’t as gentle as she needed to be, Aladdin was sure that her efforts showed through in a way that was just as healing as if she’d bandaged a cut properly.

Aladdin looked around the great entrance hall. Various people from far away lands chatted amicably, just as he and his friends were doing now. Aladdin surveyed the crowd.

Two blondes who were most likely from Reim. They looked like they were getting on each other’s nerves something terrible.

White-clad siblings who had to be royalty of Kou. They kept to themselves.

Ja’far and another man walked around the groups making sure all was well. He was probably a servant too, though he was much louder than Ja’far.

Lost in people watching, Aladdin jumped when he heard a voice from behind.

“Sinbad’s inviting kids to these now?” A tall man asked as he grabbed plump figs by the handful. “Every year he gets harder and harder to understand.”

“He’s not just some kid,” Alibaba said in Aladdin’s defence. “He’s the prince - no, the _king_ \- of Alma Torran.”

“Alma Torran? Huh…” He squinted at Aladdin, looking him up and down, before shrugging. “I heard things are bad there right now. Sorry that Kina can’t do anything to help. I’m Yamato Takeruhiko, king of the island nation of Kina.”

Aladdin took his outstretched hand. Takeruhiko clutched it firmly, more suffocating than comforting. But it didn’t seem like he was doing it on purpose. “Aladdin Jehoahaz Abraham. It’s nice to meet you, Mister.”

A woman with mismatched hair took Aladdin’s hand as soon as Takeruhiko let go of it, shaking it obnoxiously. “I’m Nanaumi!” She said. “My Lord’s retainer! Isn’t he the most wonderful king in the world?”

It was hard to tell if she was insulting Aladdin or complimenting her king, but she was very enthusiastic. He didn’t think she meant harm either way, but he was very glad when she let go of his hand to go skipping after her king.

“She’s certainly a character,” Alibaba said. “The king, too. Can’t believe he sized you up, Aladdin.”

Aladdin laughed. “I get it a lot,” he said. “Alma Torran has that reputation, you know? Everyone’s surprised to see what I look like.”

“I was surprised when I found out you were the prince, too,” Morgiana said. “It was a lot to take in.”

The creak of wood drew their attention from conversation to the double doors leading into the mansion. They opened slowly, and through the dark crack, three shadows walked into the light.

“Our final guests have arrived,” Sinbad said.

Uneasiness seeped through the door where they’d come. A chill that hadn’t been there before unmistakably followed the final two guests in.

Aladdin had heard there would be fifteen guests, at first. But here were numbers fifteen and sixteen.

Something was wrong.

But Sinbad continued his introductions like normal.

“Ren Kouen, second general of the Kou Empire,” Sinbad said, motioning to the man beside him who was of an equally overwhelming presence.

Kouen didn’t bow at his introduction. He stood, arms crossed, eyes scanning the guests with boredom until the settled on the people Aladdin had assumed to be from Kou for a moment.

Kouen angled his head to them in something of a bow. Then moved forward. Observed the crowd.

“The general overseeing the War of Western Expansion,” Alibaba whispered. “He’s famous in Balbadd for all the wrong reasons.”

Aladdin nodded. Alibaba wrote about Kouen every so often - how he’d conquered another country, how he was coming for Balbadd soon - and scowled at him. Kouen never looked at him. His eyes remained on Sinbad’s, like he was waiting for something.

“An interesting group,” Kouen finally said. “Are you not going to introduce _him_?”

“…I was just getting to that,” Sinbad said. He cleared his throat. “And Ren Kouen’s companion, er…”

“Spit it out,” Kouen said. He wasn’t very polite, was he?

Sinbad coughed. It was the first time Aladdin had ever seen him at a loss for words. “His companion, Judar.”

“Of?” Kouen urged.

“Of Al-Thamen.”

The air froze. It pricked his skin, warning him. Don’t move, it said. Move and he’ll see you, it said. Move and he’ll know who you are.

Aladdin jumped when a hand touched his back. That was enough to catch his attention. But not enough to tear his eyes away from the man of Al-Thamen.

Dark hair, a darker expression. So far past boredom that it almost reached apathy. He didn’t look interested in Aladdin at all.

Aladdin let out the breath he was holding when Judar looked back at Sinbad, his dull expression lightening to let some interest in. Aladdin gulped.

Alibaba’s hand on his back was warm. Safe. It would be okay. He wasn’t alone. It would be okay.

He repeated it and repeated it in his head, clutching Ugo. It would be okay. He repeated it, but he couldn’t believe it.

Why were _they_ here? 

Al-Thamen shouldn’t be allowed at a party. It shouldn’t be allowed to exist anywhere.

Al-Thamen was the organization that had single-handedly killed his parents and tore his country apart with the same smile Judar was suddenly greeting the hall with.

Try as he could to relax, it was impossible. He could hardly even breathe. He tried to find King Sinbad’s eyes, to see if they showed any trace of explanation, but he wouldn’t look Aladdin’s way.

It was only then that he realized how close his friends were, forming something of a protective wall between the unexpected guest and Aladdin. He tried to quell his shivering, but when Judar spoke, it came back with twice the force.

“Hey, this is all?” Judar asked, pointing to the refreshments. “What kind of guest of honor do you treat to crumbs?”

“ _You_ are not the guest of honor,” Ja’far said under his breath. Judar made no move to show that he heard.

Sinbad cleared his throat. “Sharrkan, please prepare an additional chair for dinner. Our sixteenth guest must be seated as well.”

It was clear by Sinbad’s tone that he hadn’t invited Judar and that, unlike how Alibaba had appealed for Morgiana to come, Kouen made no preparations to ensure that Judar would be accommodated. By Kouen’s smirk, it wasn’t about making sure Judar was comfortable during his stay. It was power play. Just bringing a member of Al-Thamen, which was classified as a terror organization in most countries, was proof of his opinion that Sinbad should follow Kou’s rules, not the other way around.

The entry hall remained tense long after Sinbad left with Ja’far to continue preparations for dinner. Everyone was too aware of the presence of Al-Thamen to continue mingling with strangers.

Soon after the final guests arrived, the door between the stairs was opened to reveal a dining room.

The dining room was littered with small circular tables instead of an elongated table like the ones often present in churches and castles. Instead, what appeared to be a full dining table held the food.

“Weird,” Alibaba said. “Sinbad told everyone it’d be a sit-down together kind of dinner earlier. I guess he changed his mind?”

Aladdin nodded without paying much attention. It was hard to when he couldn’t stop focusing on the dark blur of a moving braid in the corner of his eye. He was just getting food. If he stopped acting like his presence was normal and announced why he was really there, Aladdin might feel a little better.

As things were, Aladdin had no appetite. He just kept thinking about the blood stain his mother’s body left in the palace. No one could get it out of the wood, and instead of stripping and redoing the floors, a carpet had been placed haphazardly over it. Because they didn’t have enough wood for such a small repair, even in the palace. Because all their wood was being used to repair the historic buildings Al-Thamen was hellbent on destroying.

Morgiana handing him a plate brought Aladdin back to reality. “Eat,” she said softly. “You came a long way. You need the energy.”

“…Thanks, Mor.”

She led him to a table and sat protectively at his side with her own plate. Alibaba joined them soon after.

Since they were a group of three, two chairs remained unfilled at their table. Every time someone neared it, his pulse quickened.

It wasn’t just Kou that had ties with Al-Thamen, but it was the first he’d heard Kou still did. His neighboring country, Parthevia, had ties with them since before he was born. He shrank back into his chair when a familiar face, Barbarossa, passed. Why was he here? Magnostadt had a complicated relationship with Al-Thamen, too. He recognized the chancellor’s daughter. Why was she here?

She caught him staring and looked at him with pity. Then brought her plate and took one of the last seats at their table. Aladdin gulped. He clenched his fists to steady them and forced a calm expression.

“Prince Aladdin,” she said. “No… King Aladdin now, right?”

“Just Aladdin is fine,” he said.

“Aladdin. Listen,” she said. “I saw the look you were giving me.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I understand. My country has its faults, just like yours. But I wanted to let you know that I’m on your side. That’s all.”

He loosened his fists. She sounded like she meant it.

He wanted to believe her.

“I understand, Miss Yamraiha.”

She smiled. “Let me know if you need anything, okay? I’m not afraid to petition the chancellor.”

“…Thank you.”

Despite their back-and-forth relationship with Al-Thamen, Magnostadt was one of the few countries that routinely sent relief to Alma Torran. Maybe it was their guilt over the Al-Thamen situation, but they needed all the aid they could get.

Seconds later, a man plopped down in the final chair at their table. Aladdin recognized him as the person who’d been helping Ja’far bring the food out.

“Hey,” he said, eyes only for Yamraiha. Aladdin didn’t think he’d noticed the table was nearly full at all. “Have we met before?” 

Yamraiha’s eye twitched. “Wh, what…? Sorry, I didn’t hear? It couldn’t have been a shitty pick up line, could it?”

His face fell, but he recovered quickly. “I’m Sharrkan,” he said. “I never got to introduce myself before. By the way, did you know I’m a world-class swordsman? I’d love for you to visit me for practice sometime.”

Aladdin couldn’t figure out if he was joking or if he was just that bad at pick up lines. Neither could Morgiana, from the look of it.

Their bickering for the rest of the evening was a welcome distraction.

Dinner lasted a couple hours, but without an appetite, Aladdin spent most of it running his fingers over his flute, playing an old song in his head, and listening to Sharrkan and Yamraiha’s silly conversation. The only reason she didn’t leave was because she didn’t want to leave a seat at Aladdin’s table open - that much was obvious. He really appreciated it.

When their conversation lulled and it looked like Sharrkan was getting ready to give up for the night, Alibaba engaged him in a discussion about swordplay. They ended up getting along surprisingly well.

When the buffet was nearly over, Sharrkan was dragged away by Ja’far to help clean up. Yamraiha sighed in relief when he was gone.

“What a loudmouth,” she said.

“It looked like you were having fun,” Aladdin said. “Mister Sharrkan is like the life of a party, isn’t he?”

“Yeah!” Alibaba agreed. “I’d love to see him fight sometime. He really knew what he was talking about.”

“Oh, he was serious?” Yamraiha asked idly. “I could have sworn he was just lying to make himself sound cool.”

Aladdin and Alibaba exchanged a glance and smiled. Sharrkan had his work cut out for him if he was planning on wooing her before the banquet ended.

Ja’far soon found their table and smiled. It was the first time Aladdin noticed just how tired he looked. With so few staff working on such a large event, he really had his work cut out for him.

“Aladdin, Alibaba. Could I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?” Alibaba asked.

“Due to our unexpected… _guest_ ,” Ja’far started. 

That was all it took for Aladdin’s heart to remember he was scared. It pounded, almost drowning out the rest of Ja’far’s words.

“…We need two of our guests to share a room,” Ja’far said. “As we only have fifteen total.”

“Oh!” Alibaba said. “Perfect! Me and Aladdin go way back. Sharing’s no problem!”

Aladdin nodded vigorously. He’d rather share a room for sure.

Ja’far sighed in relief. “Thank you so much. Now, if you would please accompany me.”

Morgiana stood too. “I’m coming too.”

Ja’far paused, then nodded. “Alright.”

Morgiana may be small, but there was no point in arguing with her. She was, by far, the most stubborn person Aladdin had ever met.

A long time ago Ugo told him that his mother used to be like that, too. Back when she was alive. He liked to think that his mom would like Morgiana. She’d probably treat her like her own daughter if they ever met. But his memory was hazy, so he couldn’t be sure.

Ja’far first brought them to a side room at the left to the double staircases in the entryway, where their luggage was stored. Aladdin took his, which only carried necessities like toiletries and a couple changes of clothes, while Morgiana took a backpack that likely contained all of her belongings.

“It’s only three days, Mor,” Aladdin said, jokingly. Morgiana looked at him blankly.

“That’s what I told her, too. But you know Morgiana!” Alibaba said, looking a little defeated.

Aladdin laughed. Morgiana’s legendary stubbornness struck again.

Once they had all their luggage, Ja’far led them up the left staircase. Their group turned the corner to a roomy hallway. A scrawny white cat stared at them from its place sprawled out in the middle of the floor, eyes wide with surprise.

Their group stopped so as to not bother the cat. He just stared back.

Between his common eyes and thin body, the cat looked like a stray. Aladdin looked to Ja’far for an explanation.

“That’s the villa’s cat,” Ja’far said. “We call him Mouser. He may not be the cutest, but he does help keep things clean around here.”

Aladdin crouched down and held his hand out for Mouser. He didn’t come forward to sniff it. Instead, he fled to behind Ja’far, peering out curiously from behind his pants.

“He can be a bit shy,” Ja’far said. “To be honest, he isn’t the best at catching mice, but Mahad, one of the villa’s usual staff, found him in Reim, and… well, you can imagine. Come now, Mouser,” Ja’far said. He lifted Mouser gently and turned him around. “Run along to the other hall for today.”

Aladdin smiled. He liked Ja’far. “Is Mister Mahad here today?”

Once Mouser was out of sight, Ja’far led the way down the hall. “No,” he said. “He’s on vacation. We trust our staff, but international guests can be a bit nervous at this kind of conference. So this conference is run only by the higher ranking officials of the Sindrian government. It puts us on an even footing with everyone.”

“Wow,” Alibaba said. “You mean to say that all the food here was made by people in the government?”

“Yes,” Ja’far said with a smile. “Well, the cakes were transported from a baker on Sindria proper. But Sharrkan, who helped with cooking, is our ambassador from Heliohapt and a general in the army.”

That made sense. Aladdin watched the rooms as they passed. Each room had metal plates and a number fixed to the front. “What about you, Mister Ja’far?”

“I’m also a general, but I mostly perform civic duties.”

“And cook?” Alibaba asked.

“For events like this, yes. Occasionally.”

Ja’far stopped in front of a room. It, like all the other rooms in the hall, had a small golden plate nailed to it.

_09_

“Room number nine,” Ja’far said. He handed the key to Alibaba, who lowered it for Aladdin to see. It was an old key made specifically for its keyhole.

“I apologize for making you two share a room,” Ja’far said. “Our uninvited guest is, well…”

“I understand,” Aladdin said. It wasn’t safe to make anyone share a room with a member of Al-Thamen. “And don’t worry! I feel safer sleeping with Alibaba anyway.”

Ja’far tried to smile back, but it was clearly forced. “Miss Morgiana, you’re room eight.” Ja’far motioned to the room opposite to nine. It looked like even numbers were on the opposite side, as the two to either side of nine were eleven and seven.

“Actually,” Morgiana said. “I’d like to share with them, too.”

Ja’far blinked. “Are you sure? We only have one key per room, so you wouldn’t have much privacy.”

“I’d like to stay with them,” Morgiana repeated.

“There’s only one bed per room,” Ja’far told her. “They may be large, but it could still get uncomfortable with three people.”

“Please.”

“If you insist,” Ja’far said. “Let me get some extra pillows and blankets from room eight for you, then.”

While they waited, Alibaba turned the key over in his hand. Its handle had an elegant pattern that was easy on the eyes. “Smells like money,” he said. Though he was probably talking about the key’s metallic scent, Aladdin could appreciate the double meaning.

“I bet it’s worth a fortune,” Aladdin said.

“Yeah. My key at the palace isn’t as fancy as this. Actually, we just switched to the new kind. The shorter ones.”

“Really?” Aladdin asked. “We have this kind in Alma Torran. But the handles aren’t as intricate.”

“That’s what I mean,” Alibaba said. “It takes a special blacksmith to make a design this small. And he did it for the guest rooms! Sinbad really is amazing, isn’t he?” Alibaba asked as he stuck the key in its hole. It opened the door smoothly and almost soundlessly. Alibaba whistled his approval. “No wonder this place is so famous for its privacy!”

The room itself was a little bit of a letdown. It was a regular villa room, not a five star hotel room. They tried to not let the disappointment show on their faces when Ja’far returned with an armful of blankets and pillows to deposit on the single bed’s covers.

“Please, enjoy your stay. I will be in the kitchen if you need anything, such as coffee, warm milk, tea, or snacks.” Ja’far bowed and headed back the way they came.

“He sure is busy,” Alibaba said. “Between showing everyone around, cooking, and cleaning, I wonder when he’ll get to sleep.”

Aladdin wondered that, too. He didn’t look like he planned to sleep at all.

Morgiana set her backpack on the floor and plopped down on the bed. When she sat, she bounced a little. It looked fun, and soon they were all jumping on the soft and bouncy mattress.

“It’s like a cloud,” Aladdin said. He laughed when a pillow flew into his face.

He loved his friends.

It was late before they finally settled in to sleep, but when they did, he felt safe. Even when the storm started up and wind and rain rattled the window, it was okay. Even the thunder and lightning failed to rouse him.

As long as his friends were by his side, everything would be okay.

\---

Aladdin woke to Morgiana’s sneeze. That meant it was morning.

He smiled at the memories - when Alibaba and Morgiana came to Alma Torran to meet him, they stayed in his room to keep him company in the long, long nights after his mother’s death. In the mornings, day after day, he woke to Morgaina’s sneeze.

Unlike Balbadd, Alma Torran was usually sunny. And seeing the sun for the first time after a while made Morgiana sneeze. It was one of those idiosyncrasies that one only learned after being friends with her for some time, and thinking of it always made Aladdin smile.

By the time he rose, the sun was already covered by a thick layer of clouds again. The weather was doomed to be dreary, but that didn’t mean the weekend had to be.

Their room only had one bathroom, but it had a shower, so they only had to share it between the three of them instead of with all fifteen… with all sixteen people at the banquet.

They all took pretty quick showers, so the water didn’t go cold. Even if it had, Aladdin wasn’t sure he’d mind. Right now, the days were long and hot in Alma Torran. Summer was the season for cooling off inside. But on an overcast day like this, a hot shower did have its perks.

Once he was done showering and braiding his hair, they left for breakfast. It was to be another buffet style meal, if he recalled correctly, and took place in the same room as dinner proper.

As he expected, the circular tables were still set out for guests, with the longer table being used to hold food. Ja’far greeted them at the door.

“Good morning, Uncle Ja’far,” Aladdin said with a yawn. Ja’far smiled fondly.

“Would you like something to drink, Aladdin? We have tea, milk, juice, water…”

“What kinds of juice?”

Ja’far listed about ten kinds, motioning to the rows of iced pitchers along the wall. Aladdin’s eyes sparkled.

“I want to try them all!”

“Please, have as much as you’d like.”

Morgiana joined him at the juice bar. Before long, Aladdin decided watermelon was the best. Morgiana liked mango.

The rest of the guests joined them slowly. Because it was another buffet-style meal, there was some mingling. Less than before Kouen arrived last night, but more than after.

Lunch would be their first serious assigned seats meal. Though Aladdin was curious what kinds of top secret things were going to happen, if any, he’d miss chatting with Alibaba and Morgiana about the food.

He hoped that breakfast would go without a hitch. But much like dinner, it didn’t go the way he planned at all.

All it took was one agitated guest to put him on edge.

Long, dark hair. Pale as could be. His impression of her last night was that she was a princess of Kou, but she came before Kouen. He wanted to talk to her, learn who she was. But… she didn’t really seem like she was in the mood for chatting.

She looked around the room nervously. Urgently. He could clearly see beads of sweat on her brow. Aladdin set his juice down to talk to her. “Miss, what’s wrong?”

“I,” she started, still looking around nervously. “I think… I need to speak with the attendant. Ja’far, was it?”

“I think he’s in the kitchen,” Aladdin said. “Do you want me to find him?”

“I’ll go,” she said.

A few people watched her. Some whispered about it.

“Did something happen?” 

“Who was she, again?” 

”The first princess of Kou! Can’t you tell?” 

“Not really. She looks nothing like Kouen.” 

“Kouen isn’t a real prince. He’s from a branch family. I met him before he became a general, see…” 

She came back out with Ja’far. The whispering stopped. Ja’far’s expression was much cooler than hers. Rather than looking collected, it looked icy. Aladdin shivered when that icy expression focused on him.

That didn’t last for long, though. He soon looked to someone else - Kina’s king, who introduced himself to Aladdin yesterday and who’d been whispering loudly just a moment ago. Then to Nanaumi.

Aladdin finally realized what he was doing: counting. He did the same.

One, two, three… thirteen people. Two were missing.

Judar and Kouen never came.

Ja’far cleared his throat, but he didn’t need to. Everyone’s eyes were already on him.

“Has anyone seen Ren Kouen today?”

Nobody responded.

From the princess’ expression, he didn’t make a habit of sleeping in, either.

“Where’s that brat from Al-thamen?” Takeruhiko asked. “Haven’t seen him, either.”

“Has anyone else?”

Again, no response.

Ja’far and Sinbad exchanged a look.

Then Sinbad stood from his place at a table and walked to the center of the room to where the princess and Ja’far were standing. He didn’t look too concerned.

“Lady Hakuei,” Sinbad started, “I know you’re concerned. However, we do not have access to our guests’ rooms. Each room has only one key, and no master key was ever created for the sake of everyone’s privacy. So it is impossible for me to check on him if he doesn’t respond to visitors.”

Hakuei nodded slowly.

“However, if you’d like, I can accompany you to his door to check again if maybe he just had too much to drink last night and slept in?”

Hakuei didn’t look like she liked that offer much. But with everyone’s eyes on her, she accepted. Wearily.

Someone who had to be her brother quickly walked up to Hakuei and joined their conversation after a short bow to Sinbad. Considering his status, he was surprisingly soft-spoken. Not at all how Aladdin would guess a prince of Kou to be. He couldn’t hear the rest of their conversation.

They left for the halls soon after.

“That was weird,” Alibaba whispered. Aladdin jumped. He hadn’t noticed Alibaba coming closer.

“You scared me!” Aladdin whispered back.

“Sorry. Things got kinda tense over there,” Alibaba said, motioning to where he’d come from, where animosity radiated off Yamraiha, who was still staring after Kou’s imperial siblings. “So I came back.”

“I wonder what happened,” Aladdin said.

“Beats me. But it’s just Kouen, so…”

Aladdin nodded. Ren Kouen had been giving Balbadd trouble for a while. Alibaba wrote about it in his letters fairly often. Alma Torran was too far for Kou to set its sights on for now, but sooner or later, it could happen. So he had to be on his guard, too. Especially if Kouen was bringing Al-Thamen back into Kou.

He had steeled his resolve to keep a close eye on Kouen for the weekend. But that turned out to be for nothing.

Because when Sinbad’s group came back, Ren Kouen was pronounced dead.


	2. The Cut String of Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i meant to say this last chapter, but this is an au specifically because it's a murder mystery. i think it would be very difficult if it were in canon since no one actually did something like this, so some circumstances had to be tweaked to change everyone's backstory and circumstances. this way it should be much more difficult to say "well, x, y, and z absolutely cant be the killer because i know them and they would not do that." in other words, it's my handicap since this is my first time writing a mystery haha
> 
> also my original plan was to update this every other tuesday but i might go back on my word and do it every tuesday because i get the every other week thing mixed up in my head too easily. every week is much simpler

Takeruhiko was the first to respond. “You’re joking, right?”

Sinbad sighed. “I wish that I were. Unfortunately, it is the truth. General Kouen’s door was unlocked, and inside…” 

“Lord Sinbad. Please,” Kou’s princess said. She looked like she was going to be sick. Her brother was doing a little better, but he didn’t look too well either.

“I understand,” Sinbad said. He cleared his throat. “Everyone, please remain here for questioning. I apologize, but in circumstances like this, we must suspect foul play.”

Alibaba bit his lip. Things were happening too fast. First a member of Al-Thamen, and now a murder?

Wait, where _was_ that Al-Thamen guy, anyway?

Kou’s prince - the living one - beat him to it. “I don’t believe interrogations are necessary at this moment, Lord Sinbad. We are still missing the most likely suspect, after all.”

“Of course. Ja’far and I will get Judar. In the meantime… Sharrkan, why don’t you show everyone to the parlor? It’s much more comfortable in there.”

“Yes, my King.”

Sharrkan looked around the group, performing a mental roll-call before he motioned to leave the banquet hall. Unlike Ja’far, he looked uncertain to act on his own, and came off as much younger than Alibaba originally pegged him for.

The parlor was a lofty room of deep purples and golds, with antique siding and ornately patterned walls. If it weren’t for their situation, just sitting in it would make him feel more of a prince than he ever did in Balbadd. But as things were, he felt more like a child being watched closely by Barkak between lessons.

Thirteen people was more than full capacity for the room, and several people were left standing. A couple paced. It made the stiff atmosphere worse and worse.

He would never say it outloud but a part of Alibaba was relieved. If Kouen was really dead as they said he was, then Balbadd was safe from Kou. For now. He glanced to the proper prince of Kou. Ren Hakuryuu, if memory served. He was standing, lost in thought, next to his sister.

He could be the next to try laying claim to Balbadd. But he didn’t carry the same threatening air as Kouen. Like Alibaba, he was the third prince. Legitimate, though, not like Alibaba’s half-blooded claim. Hakuryuu wasn’t powerless.

Maybe things would be okay…?

Then again, if Kouen’s death really was foul play, maybe the worst was yet to come.

Alibaba glanced at Aladdin to see how he was doing. He wasn’t shaking, but his face was pale and sweaty.

If Al-Thamen was to blame, Aladdin likely felt some responsibility. In this day and age, being a part of Alma Torran’s dying royal family held more weight than any other title. It was the world’s oldest and most dangerous position, carrying the burden of hundreds of years of growth alongside Al-Thamen, nurturing it as well as being destroyed by it.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Alibaba whispered. From Aladdin’s other side, Morgiana nodded. They were in this together. 

Sinbad and Ja’far returned empty handed.

“Judar wouldn’t leave his room,” Sinbad said and sighed. 

“What do you mean, he wouldn’t leave?” Takeruhiko grumbled. “Doesn’t he realize the situation he’s in?”

“Maybe he’s hiding because he does realize,” Yamraiha suggested. “If so, he’s smarter than he looks.”

“Whatever the case is,” Ja’far said, “it would do us no good to keep everyone else holed up in here as he relaxes in his room.”

Sinbad nodded. “Sorry for keeping you, everyone. Please, be careful today. We don’t know what else he could do, and I’m not keen to find out.”

A few people left as soon as Sinbad and Ja’far gave the okay. Others stayed put, too nervous to leave alone.

Alibaba took the opportunity to address Sinbad. “How exactly did a member of Al-Thamen end up here? You took everyone by boat personally, right?”

Sinbad nodded. “However, I had everyone brought to other islands in the vicinity first, for the sake of privacy. The secrets that go through these walls could change the world - no one would feel safe if all the captains of Sindria could reach it. By the time I saw him, he was already on an island with Kouen and no way out.”

Alibaba nodded slowly. “But even if Kouen brought him, couldn’t you turn him away?”

“I could have,” Sinbad said. “However, the sea was getting rough. A storm struck just an hour after nightfall. He may be a member of Al-Thamen, but…”

But he would have died on an uninhabited island alone in a storm.

Al-Thamen or not, Alibaba would have done the same. 

“I shouldn’t have agreed to let him come,” Sinbad said. “Sindria knows better than most how harmful Al-Thamen can be. However, being that they’re such an important part of world politics right now, I thought… that perhaps we could find some way to defeat them by everyone coming together as we are. I see now that the thought was naive.”

Alibaba shook his head. “It’s okay. Everyone would have done the same if they were in your shoes. At least I think they would.”

“Thank you,” Sinbad said. His eyes flicked to Aladdin, who was still sitting next to Morgiana and staring off into space. “Is he… doing okay?”

“I think he’ll be fine,” Alibaba said. “He’s tougher than he looks.”

“It’s hard losing so much at such a young age,” Sinbad said. “Alma Torran has my condolences.”

Sindria regularly took refugees from Alma Torran, promising them a better and safer home. It made his relationship with the old kingdom rocky, but he was doing good work. He didn’t mean to undermine Alma Torran by offering a better life to people.

Balbadd was in the same situation now, with their failing economy. It was hard and there was no good answer for what was right or wrong. The best anyone could do was try to make sure everyone had as good of a chance of happiness as possible.

“Thank you for your help,” Alibaba said and rejoined Morgiana and Aladdin.

Morgiana didn’t bother hiding that she’d been listening in. “What should we do next?”

“Hmm… Aladdin, what do you think?”

Aladdin snapped out of it when Alibaba called his name. “Huh? Oh, um… how about we go back to our room? I hear the rain has started again.”

Morgiana nodded. “It feels like another storm is coming. I don’t think anyone could leave the island like this.”

He hadn’t thought about it until she said it, but that meant they’d be sharing a house with a body until the storm blew over. It may start to smell, or even attract flies.

The thought made him queasy.

Life in the slums had sometimes been sweet. Other times, it had been hard. The thought of rotting bodies brought him back to it—his mother that he couldn’t wake… 

He’d just been a kid, so he did a lot of things he understood to be very, very wrong now, like living with the body of his mother just a little longer, thinking she may come back to life like in the stories, when all that really happened was that… urgh… 

Alibaba curled his fingernails into his palms to break out of it. Once they were out of Sinbad and the others’ earshot, he spoke. “Hey, um, do you guys… plan on getting to the bottom of all this?”

“Yes,” Aladdin answered immediately. Just as Alibaba expected, he felt responsible for it.

“Do you wanna… uh.” He didn’t mean to fidget and fall over his own words, but it was a weird thing to suggest. Anyone would have a hard time saying it. “Should we maybe… check out the body?”

“That’s a good idea,” Aladdin said. Alibaba sighed in relief.

They half-snuck over to the parlor’s entrance. Though the staff had probably intended on keeping everyone in one place at first, they’d quickly given up. How could they not? They couldn’t keep so many people in a small room without a bathroom. They’d riot. Sinbad did glance at them as they left, but nodded, consenting to them leaving. They were in a group, after all, and safety was in numbers.

“What room was he staying in?” Morgiana asked as they climbed the stairs back to the guestrooms.

“I’m not sure,” Alibaba said.

Morgiana stopped in front of the first door on the odd side and cocked her head. She then motioned for Aladdin and Alibaba to come.

Alibaba glanced at the door’s plate.

_03_

“Number three?”

Morgiana nodded. She looked to the other side. “It starts at two over there.”

“Maybe one is one the other side of the hall,” Aladdin offered. “I bet it’s the master bedroom.”

“That makes sense,” Alibaba said. “Sinbad comes here more than we do, so I guess he’d have a better room.”

“Did he build this place?” Morgiana asked.

“I think so. We should ask Ja’far next time we see him.”

She nodded.

“There’s a notepad on the table in our room,” Aladdin said. “We could write down who’s staying where.”

“Oh, good idea,” Alibaba said. “I’ll go get it!”

“No, wait. Let’s all go together.”

Alibaba blinked, then smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. C’mon.”

It was a short walk to room nine, but nothing could happen to them as long as they were together. So it was best to go together, no matter how close or far their destination was.

Alibaba took the opportunity to study the rooms’ plates as they passed.

Evens and odds were paired up directly across each other - rooms two and three were opposites, as were four and five and so on, all the way up to fourteen and fifteen. 

Inside room nine, Morgiana stood in front of the closed door while Aladdin and Alibaba grabbed the notepad and searched for a pen.

He found a pencil in the corner of his luggage and held it up for Aladdin to see. Its lead was dull and the inside of his suitcase had the telltale signs of it scribbling around as it moved. 

“Ja’far should know where everyone’s sleeping,” Alibaba said. “Should we start there?”

“…No,” Aladdin said. “Let’s knock on the rooms and see who’s in them. Now that something’s happened, more people might be rooming together. Uncle Ja’far’s list might be outdated.”

“Good call,” Alibaba said. “Wanna start with eleven? I’m curious who was showering at sunrise.”

“I slept right through it,” Aladdin admitted. “Do you think it might have something to do with Uncle Kouen?”

“No, probably not. But we have to start somewhere, so why not with our neighbors?” 

It was as good of a place to start as any, so they knocked on the door to room eleven first.

After a moment, an unfamiliar man opened the door.

“Hey, um… uh…” Alibaba scratched his head. “Sorry, who were you again?”

The man gritted his teeth. “Nerva! Lord Nerva Julius Caluades, to you!”

“Uh… sorry, Nerva.”

“ _Lord_ Nerva!”

“Right, um… we were just investigating. Y’know, because of the crime. We wanted to see who was in each room.”

“Never mind the murderer,” Nerva muttered. “Find out who the imbeciles jumping on the bed so late in room nine were! I was seconds before knocking down that door to shut them up when they finally stopped, not a tick before midnight! The insolence!”

Alibaba laughed nervously. “Right, I’ll be sure to tell them! That was all! Thanks!” He hurriedly closed the door.

It was really hard keeping a straight face talking to someone like that.

Aladdin looked like he was in the same boat. He fought a smile as he wrote Nerva’s name on his diagram below the number eleven.

“Next up is thirteen, right?” Morgiana asked.

“Wait, Alibaba said. “Can we check who was on our other side first? Before all the numbers start to run together. Nerva’s room is on the side with our bed and desk, so the other room, seven, should be against our armchair and bathroom. From what I saw behind him, Nerva’s room had the same structure. Even the window was in the same place - just to the side of the armchair.”

“Sure,” Aladdin said. Their group walked to the right until they reached the room on the bathroom side of their own room, room seven.

When they knocked on the door, there was no response. They exchanged a look.

“Should we try?” Alibaba asked, hand hovering over the doorknob.

Morgiana shrugged and turned the doorknob without hesitation.

Alibaba and Aladdin jumped as something slunk out of the door as soon as it was open. Soon after, Alibaba relaxed. “Oh, Mouser… haha, how’d you get in here?”

Mouser didn’t respond. He just scampered down the hall.

“What are you three doing?”

Alibaba jumped. All these surprises were bad for his heart. Thankfully, it was just Ja’far this time, talking to them from inside the room.

They’d only known each other a short amount of time, but Ja’far seemed trustworthy.

Even when he was… crouched over the body of Kouen…?

“Wh-what are _you_ doing!?” Alibaba sputtered. Now that he took a second to think, everything about this was weird. “I thought you were in the parlor! Why was Mouser in here with the body?”

“Have you ever owned a cat?” Ja’far asked. “Nothing attracts them like closed doors, I’m afraid. I couldn’t focus with him meowing outside and scratching frantically.”

That… didn’t answer anything.

“What are you doing in here, Uncle Ja’far?” Aladdin asked. Straight to the point, as always. It was something Alibaba admired about Aladdin.

“Someone needs to examine him,” Ja’far said.

“Do you have medical experience?” Morgiana asked.

“…Not exactly. But I do know what I’m doing.”

That didn’t answer anything either!

“Morgiana works with the injured in Balbadd,” Alibaba said, trying to catch his cool again. “Maybe she could help?”

Ja’far blinked. It looked like he was about to say it wasn’t necessary, but he relented when he looked at Morgiana’s stubborn face. “I hate to make guests work,” he said. “But if it’ll make you feel better, then by all means.”

Morgiana helped turn Kouen’s body so Ja’far could examine his back. Bile rose in Alibaba’s throat as he watched, nearly choking him and making it difficult to think.

“Did you move him here?” Morgiana asked.

Right now, Kouen was on the bed. Ja’far looked her in the eyes long and hard before responding.

“I did,” he said. “He was found in the armchair.” Ja’far motioned to the armchair in the corner of the room, next to the window. “When we found him, Sin and I merely scooted the chair to the bed’s edge, rolled him, and moved the chair back. I could not have moved him myself. However, we felt getting a good look at him was necessary to the investigation.”

“How was he positioned on the chair?” Morgiana asked.

“Very strangely… I suppose saying he was _in_ the chair may have been a bit of a stretch. Truth be told, he was sitting on it backwards.”

“What?” Alibaba asked. “Backwards how?”

“Let’s see,” Ja’far said. “It’s difficult to explain - really a very unnatural position. He was standing on his knees, with his stomach against the chair itself. Underneath him was the book we moved to the desk.” Ja’far pointed to the desk behind the bed. Aladdin walked to it and picked up the book.

“The… the complete history of Alma Torran, volume four…?”

“I thought it was strange as well,” Ja’far said. “However, Lady Hakuei assured us that Lord Kouen merely has a fascination with history. According to her, it is unlikely that it was left by the killer or of any significance.”

Alibaba saw Aladdin gulp from across the room. “There’s blood on its cover…”

“Yes,” Ja’far said. “It was not obvious at first glance, but once we moved him, we could see that he was stabbed many times. Morgiana, are you okay with me undressing him?” Ja’far asked.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Morgiana said.

“How is that _suspected_ foul play? That’s definitely murder!”

“Hush, Alibaba. There is no reason to panic.”

“Somebody is _dead!_ We need to warn everyone! I know that they wouldn’t have started roaming out of the parlor if they knew that someone died because—”

“Yes, and people die all the time,” Ja’far said coldly. “What we are trying to find out now is if this is an isolated case, or if it poses a threat to everyone else. You understand when I say that Ren Kouen was not exactly a popular man, yes?”

“…Of course I do,” Alibaba said. He clenched his fists. Ja’far was right. It was entirely possible that he alone was the culprit’s aim. “We’ll… investigate the rest of the room, then.”

Ja’far and Morgiana continued their hushed conversation about the body by the bed. Not wanting to hear it a second longer, Alibaba guided Aladdin to the bathroom for an investigation of their own.

Kouen’s bathroom was the exact same as their own. Nothing was out of the ordinary. The sink was spotlessly clean and dry, as was the shower.

“If he was found on the chair, whoever’s in room five might know something,” Aladdin said. “Especially if the walls are thin enough for Mister Nerva to hear us playing last night.”

“Good thinking. Maybe we should ask Ja’far on this one, just to be sure.”

“I agree.”

They left the bathroom. Even though it was just Morgiana and Ja’far, something made them tip-toe in. It was as if the room’s very atmosphere had started closing in on them since entering, and it only got worse the longer they were inside.

“Uncle Ja’far,” Aladdin said.

“Yes?”

“Could you tell us who’s in room five?”

Ja’far stopped a moment. Stared.

Alibaba gulped.

“I am,” Ja’far finally said.

“Wh-what? But…?”

“I should have heard what was going on in here, yes?”

When he said it like that, Alibaba felt like a child who’d been caught sneaking snacks out of the kitchen.

“You are correct to think so,” Ja’far said. “However, I was up late preparing today’s food… oh! Today’s food!” Ja’far jumped away from the body, suddenly antsy. “I completely forgot about lunch! Come on, everyone, wash your hands and let’s be on our way!”

“But we haven’t investigated the armchair—”

“You can do so after lunch!” Ja’far practically shouted as he washed dried blood from his hands in the bathroom’s only sink. “I will be locking this room behind me so that the killer can’t come in alone. Alright?”

‘Can’t come in alone…’ so it was okay if they came while he was there? Alibaba gulped. He didn’t want to find out if Ja’far was as strong as that confidence made him sound. They left as ordered and Ja’far locked the door securely once they were out.

“Was it really unlocked this morning?” Morgiana asked.

“Yes. Sin, Lady Hakuei, and Lord Hakuryuu can all vouch for that,” Ja’far said. “The key was inside. That aside, I must go now. Sorry! Please be at the banquet hall for lunch in half an hour!”

He hurried off down the stairs. Ja’far sure had it rough.

With him gone and Kouen’s room locked up, all they could do was continue down the line. Ja’far said his was room five, but they knocked on it just to be sure it was empty. When no one answered they moved to room three, the first room on the left wing, the side of the estate that housed guests.

Morgiana walked a bit past it to check what the double doors between the two staircases were. She motioned for Alibaba and Aladdin to join her.

“A balcony?”

“It’s not very useful in this weather,” Alibaba said. “But I bet it’s a real sight when it’s not raining!”

“It’s on the odds side,” Aladdin noted. “The evens are up against the inside of the manor. Guess they don’t have any windows.”

“Seems so,” Alibaba said. “Wanna check out room three now?”

Aladdin stuck his head out the double doors. “This balcony sticks out a lot.”

“I’m sure it’s pretty when it’s sunny.”

“I wonder if you can see in the windows from it,” Aladdin said.

“…In this weather? I don’t think anyone would have been looking when Kouen was killed.”

“Maybe not,” Aladdin agreed. He closed his eyes and gripped his flute. “Room three, right?”

“I think the rooms on the edge are suspicious,” Morgiana said. “The early numbers, I mean.”

“Why?”

“Ja’far said he was stabbed multiple times. These rooms on the end are closest to the stairs. It’d be easiest to get a weapon from downstairs from them.”

“Wouldn’t that make Uncle Sinbad the most suspicious?” Aladdin asked. “I mean, if his room is over there like we were guessing.”

Alibaba’s mouth went dry. Sinbad, killing people? There was no way. “He does these events all the time,” Alibaba said. “But now that someone’s dead at one, he’ll be the first suspect, right? No one would trust him anymore if he killed someone at one. There’s no way he’d do something like that.”

“But with Al-Thamen here, he’s _not_ the first suspect,” Aladdin said.

…He had a point. 

Alibaba knocked on room three. No response.

“I guess no one’s here?” A few people might’ve returned to their rooms since they came to investigate, but it was unlikely that everyone was in at this time of day.

“Maybe knock louder?” Aladdin suggested.

Morgiana knocked as hard as she could. Aladdin and Alibaba jumped back.

The door opened.

“Can I help you?”

“Uh, yeah! We were just wondering, I mean, we’ve come to see who’s in each room.”

“Have you, now. And who are you?”

“I’m Alibaba Saluja. I’m representing Balbadd today.”

“I see. And you?” He asked, looking to Morgiana.

“I’m Morgiana. I came with Alibaba.”

“An attendant? I see.”

“And this is Aladdin,” Alibaba said.

“I know who he is.”

Alibaba cocked his head and looked to Aladdin. He hadn’t noticed earlier, but Aladdin looked like a trapped mouse.

Then this must be…?

“Barbarossa,” he introduced himself. “Representing Parthevia.”

“Oh,” Alibaba said. “Well, haha, nice meeting you! Thanks for answering!”

“That’s all you wanted?” Barbarossa asked. “You aren’t going to ask for, say, my alibi? My relationship with the deceased?”

Alibaba gulped. “Well, uh, if you’d like to tell us that too… it’d be great?”

Barbarossa laughed. “Of course. All budding detectives must start somewhere. Come in, come in.”

He ushered them in. Though Alibaba was nervous, there was strength in numbers. Especially when those numbers included Morgiana. They all followed.

Barbarossa sat at his armchair. Sitting on his bed felt a little too close, so Alibaba opted for standing. Morgiana and Aladdin did the same.

“What can you tell us?” Morgiana asked.

“…You remind me of my wife,” Barbarossa said. “You have that same fighting expression. Pardon me if I say I prefer hers. We are married, after all.”

Morgiana didn’t respond. She probably didn’t know what to say to that. It was a very strange comment.

Alibaba cleared his throat. “You were going to say—?”

“Right, of course. You want to know what I was doing last night, correct?” His eyes flicked to Aladdin, whose pen was at the ready. “Good of you to keep notes.”

Aladdin didn’t respond.

“I was one of the first called to my room to be shown inside. Second, I believe. Likely because my room is number three.”

“Did Uncle Ja’far take you?” Aladdin asked.

“Ja’far? No, Sinbad did.”

…Huh?

Alibaba tried not to let his surprise show on his face. When he thought about it, it made sense. It’d take forever for one person to bring fifteen people to their rooms. If he recalled, Sharrkan even helped with a couple.

“Do you know when that was?” Morgiana asked.

“Indeed I do. It was approximately nine thirty at night,” he said, holding his watch up as evidence.

Alibaba trusted the sound of Aladdin’s pencil to mean he was writing all this down. “What did you do after that?”

“I chatted for a few minutes with Sinbad. He himself is an excellent Parthevian, so we get along quite well.”

“Do you know when you went to sleep?” Alibaba asked.

“Not much longer after he left. I took a shower and soon slept.”

“And… your relationship with Kouen? Did you know him personally?”

“Not at all,” Barbarossa said. “Last night was the first I laid eyes on him. The far east isn’t a concern to Parthevia, you understand. Even Balbadd is a bit beyond my expertise, er…”

“Alibaba,” he said. “Saluja. Third prince to the throne.”

“Of course.”

It was hard to tell if Barbarossa really forgot or if he was trying to demean him. That icy smile was hard to get a good read on. “Well, thank you for taking the time to answer,” Alibaba said. “I think we should head for the next room.”

“Which way are you headed?” Barbarossa asked.

“To two, I think.”

“That’s the woman from Kina. The king’s attendant.”

“Oh. Thanks. We still need to ask her some questions, though.”

Barbarossa shrugged. “It may be a lost cause with her, but do try if you’d like. Best of luck.”

As soon as the door was closed behind them, Aladdin let out a sigh of relief.

“He’s really hard to talk to,” Alibaba mumbled.

“He’s always been easy on Al-Thamen, too,” Aladdin said quietly. “Giving them a home, food to eat, and a place to spread their ideas… It’s not much of a stretch to say that he’s the reason they grew so fast in such a short amount of time.”

“It’s scary,” Alibaba said. “Just the thought that people do that in exchange for military power. It makes me wonder what’s going on in their heads.”

“Maybe they’re getting something else out of it too,” Aladdin said. “I don’t know. All that I know is that whatever they are getting is at the expense of my country, my family, and my friends.”

They stood in silence for a second.

Then the door to room two slammed open. She was the woman from Kina, alright. “Hi, Aladdin and friends! Bye!” She ran down the stairs and towards the lounge without another word.

Alibaba held out his arm after her. “Wait, your… alibi…”

“It’s okay,” Aladdin said. “I’m sure we’ll see her again at lunch. We can ask then.”

“Oh, yeah! What time is it, anyway?”

No response.

Right. None of them wore a watch.

“I think I saw a clock at the end of the hall,” Morgiana said, pointing the way they’d come.

Without waiting for a response, she rushed off to check it.

So much for safety in numbers. Honestly, it was a little hard to worry about Morgiana being by herself. At this point Alibaba was convinced she was the strongest girl in the world.

When she came back, she announced that it was lunch time.

“Come to think of it, I am getting hungry,” Alibaba said. Breakfast had been cut a little short by the whole finding a body thing. “We’re having assigned seats this time, right? I wonder who we’ll be next to.”

“We might not be next to each other at all,” Aladdin said. “Let’s all ask who we’re next to about their room, alibi, and if they knew Uncle Kouen if we get the chance, okay?”

Alibaba nodded. “And if we don’t get the chance during lunch, let’s try and figure it out afterwards.”

They nodded their agreement, and without further ado, they headed back to the banquet room.

The long buffet table had been repurposed to a lunch table with chairs and tableware lined up at impeccable angles. At least a dozen platters lined the table, and he wasn’t even going to try counting the number of sides.

“Wow,” Alibaba breathed. “Ja’far, this looks amazing!”

Ja’far, who had greeted them at the door, smiled sheepishly. “I’m glad you like it. Now, Alibaba, please follow me.”

“So we really do have assigned seats?”

“Yes. It’s to promote new relationships across the world. We in Sindria believe in unity rather than seclusion, and try to promote that at every opportunity.”

Just hearing that got him excited to get to know who he’d be sitting by. But they were some of the first to arrive, and Aladdin and Morgiana were at the other end of the table.

So he waited. His seat was directly to the right of the head of the table - not the head closest to the exit, but the one farthest from it. It gave him a good view of the door to the entryway. The door to what was either the pantry or the kitchen was to his back, and the door to the other was a ways in front of him. Even with the large table, the room was still plenty roomy enough for some milling about.

He let his mind wander as he looked over the feast. He didn’t even have to look at it - the smell alone was enough to make his mouth water. He wasn’t sure if he could wait until everyone arrived to dig in.

“Are you regretting coming so early now?”

Alibaba gulped and wiped his mouth. Caught in the act, was he? He grinned guilty at his new seatmate.

King Sinbad himself sat at the head of the table, right next to him. “Alibaba,” he greeted. “Good to see you made it.”

“K-king Sinbad! It’s good to see you again!”

“It’s good to see you, too. Sorry we haven’t gotten much time to talk. Things have been… rather hectic.”

“I understand,” Alibaba said. “Nothing else has… happened, has it?”

“Thankfully, no. But the aftermath has been difficult. Poor Lady Hakuei is inconsolable. Apparently they were quite close.”

“Oh… is there anything I can do to help?”

Sinbad shook his head. “The only cure for a wound like that is time, I’m afraid.” 

“You don’t think finding his killer would help?”

Sinbad tapped his knife to the table cloth and sighed. It looked like Ja’far had already reported that they’d seen the body. “It depends. Sometimes it only hurts.”

Alibaba hadn’t thought of it that way. But he could see how it could invite vengeance rather than healing.

If he got the chance, he’d like to talk to her.

In the next couple of minutes, a steady stream of people entered. He assumed they were the group that stayed in the lobby. He recognized room two’s girl who’d run past them a bit ago. Sharrkan and Yamraiha were there, too.

All were seated long before they reached his end of the table. He gulped when Barbarossa entered and was placed next to Morgiana.

“Who’s going to sit over here?” Alibaba eventually asked.

Sinbad looked away. “Well… I’d like to keep an eye on him, so… if Judar comes, he’ll be sitting on my other side.”

Alibaba nodded. It was better if he sat here than by Aladdin. “What about by me?”

“Lady Hakuei, who we were just discussing. I’m not sure if she’ll arrive either. Perhaps she doesn’t have an appetite.”

“Next to Judar?”

“Nerva. Have you met?”

“Yeah, we’ve met alright,” Alibaba said with a grimace.

Sinbad smiled. “Not a fan? I admit, he is hard to get along with. But Reim’s emperor couldn’t come and sent his son in his place. Accompanying him is a great priest of Reim, Titus Alexius, who’s sitting between Hakuryuu, a prince of Kou, and Nanaumi, attendant to King Takeruhiko of Kina.”

They were the group of people directly across the empty seats next to him. Titus was trying to read, and Hakuryuu looked like he really wished he had a book to be pretending to read right about now too. Nanaumi was talking to him over Titus and he didn’t look like he wanted anything to do with it. Barbarossa, Sharrkan, and Morgiana were on the other end of the table from them.

Aladdin was by an empty seat that was probably Ja’far’s. On his other side was Yamraiha. It looked like they were having a good conversation.

Alibaba’s eyes shot from them to the entrance when Judar entered. It was long past noon by now, but he looked distinctly like he’d just woken up. Suspicion jumped in his throat.

He watched as Ja’far pointed to Judar’s seat next to Sinbad. Judar’s face rose to a grin.

Apparently the whole assigned seats thing went over well with him. Alibaba glanced to Sinbad, who suddenly looked every year as old as his novels implied he was.

Alibaba didn’t know what to make of their relationship. He couldn’t find his words when Judar sat down, or when he started taking food before everyone had been seated. Sinbad’s scolding went in one ear and out the other. Was this guy really a member of Al-Thamen?

Alibaba recalled Aladdin telling him how to check when they were in Alma Torran. Members of Al-Thamen usually had three dots tattooed down their forehead. When they ventured into the town Aladdin was hidden in once, he saw a long line of them walking silently, foreheads tattooed exactly as Aladdin said they’d be in a deep red.

It had been one of the scariest moments of his life. Just thinking about was enough to make him sweat. He glanced at Judar’s forehead. His bangs were too thick to tell, and what was worse, Judar noticed him looking immediately. Any humor disappeared from his face in an instant.

He got the feeling Judar knew what he was looking for.

“Who were you again?” Judar snapped. “Hey, Dunce Lord, you’ve gotta stop inviting nobodies to these. No one will take you seriously anymore.”

Sinbad coughed awkwardly.

“I’m Alibaba Saluja,” Alibaba said. “Third prince of Balbadd.”

“Third? Really…”

“My brother is the king.”

“Huh.” Judar looked back to Sinbad. “Bring his brother next time then.”

“I believe Alibaba was the person most suitable to represent Balbadd today.”

“Is that code for ‘his brother was busy?’ Guess you’re losing your edge if kings aren’t throwing their responsibilities away when you clap anymore. Maybe it’s ‘cause you’re getting wrinkles?”

Wow, this guy was _really_ unpleasant.

What was more, he wasn’t talking about anything of value. Just insulting whatever came to mind. The food, the people, the villa, everything. It was, frankly, exhausting. 

Judar didn’t even look like he was upset about anything. He ate a lot of food, and looked like he was enjoying it even as he insulted it. He looked like he was having the time of his life talking to Sinbad, even if half of it was insulting him. 

Alibaba tapped his finger to his glass to try to get his attention. He didn’t want to talk to such an unpleasant person, but he might not get a chance like this again. “Hey, Judar?”

“Whaat? Can’t you see I’m busy, uh.... whatever your name was?”

“It’s Alibaba!”

“Right, Alibobo.”

He _had_ to be doing that on purpose. Deep breaths, Alibaba. Deep breaths.

“Could I ask you a few questions?”

“No.”

…Okay, he was asking for it starting like that, wasn’t he?

“Let me try again,” Alibaba said. “I’m going to ask you a couple questions.” 

Judar stared at him blankly. It was hard to tell if he was waiting or zoning out.

“Sorry to ask over a meal, but what were you doing last night?”

“What do you think I was doing?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Were you with anyone?”

“None of your business.”

“…One last question. Why are you here?”

“Because Kouen invited me,” Judar said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He said a lot of things like that.

“And now Kouen’s dead,” Alibaba said. He tried to copy Judar’s harsh tone, but it didn’t sound threatening when he said it.

“Oh. Huh. First I’ve heard.”

“Wait, is it really?” Now he felt bad. If he was close to Kouen like Hakuei was, this was the worst way possible to hear about it.

But it was hard to tell if it was really his first time hearing of it or not. Judar’s attention was already back on the food.

Alibaba looked to Sinbad for help. Sinbad shook his head. 

He gulped. It was now or never.

“Judar, sorry. I said that was my last question, but I had one more. Can you tell me a little about Al-Thamen?”

“Why? Pick up a fucking book.”

Yikes.

“Books only know as much as their authors. I was hoping you could tell me more?” Alibaba tried. “Like, uh, what you guys are trying to accomplish?”

“Ugh. That much is definitely in books.”

“Maybe. But I want to hear it from you.”

“…‘To free the world from destiny.’ Don’t you have Al-Thamen in wherever you’re from?”

“Balbadd. There have been a couple people who have joined recently. One was my good friend. I want to understand where they’re coming from. Please.”

“Too late if they already joined. Whatever. You ruined my appetite. I’m done here.”

When Judar stood, all conversation in the room stopped as if on command. It only resumed once the door was firmly closed behind him.

“To free the world from destiny?” Sinbad repeated to himself. “Interesting.”

“Have you read that before, Sinbad?”

“No. I think he overestimates what the public know. I suppose when one has been in it for that long, it all becomes normal.”

“How do you know Judar, Sinbad?”

“I met him a few times in my travels,” Sinbad said. “I seem to have the uncanny talent of getting in Al-Thamen’s way no matter where I go.”

Alibaba smiled. “Give ‘em grief.”

“You know I’ve never let them go without a fight.”

Hakuei showed up just before the plates cleared. Ja’far hurried to get her seated and comfortable, offering to reheat anything she’d like.

“It’s alright,” she assured him. “I haven’t much of an appetite.”

“Could I get you something to drink, at least?” Ja’far asked. “Some warm milk?”

“Oh… if you have horse milk…?”

“I apologize, Lady Hakuei. Cow’s milk is all we have. But I can add honey or spices to your liking.”

She shook her head. “It’s quite alright. Thank you.”

He’d been hoping she would show up, but now that she was here Alibaba was having trouble trying to find the words to talk to her. What was he supposed to say? After his mother died, what would he have liked to hear?

All he’d wanted back then was for someone to say that everything would be okay. But Cassim wasn’t that optimistic, so he never heard it. Would it be presumptuous of him to say it to her now? They’d never spoken.

She caught him staring and forced a smile. He forced one back.

“Are you doing okay? I heard you were close.”

She set her spoon down. All she’d gotten herself was some soup. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Of course it hurts now, especially after learning that he’d been keeping so much from us… from everyone.”

“What do you mean?”

“Al-Thamen. Yesterday was the first I’d heard of them in Kou.” She rubbed her temples.

“Oh. Did you, um, ask about it?”

She picked her spoon back up. “I’m sorry, but I never caught your name?”

Alibaba introduced himself for what must have been the tenth time that day. He didn’t mean to get excited when she got his name right on the first try, but staying with a bunch of big shots had lowered his standards to dirt in a small amount of time.

“Balbadd,” she repeated after him. “I heard Kouen was closing in.”

“W, well… you’re not wrong.”

“Do you hate him for it?”

“…I don’t know.”

Hakuei finished her soup and dabbed at her lips with her napkin. “I see. Well, I suppose I’ll return to my room. I’m afraid I’m not feeling well.”

“Get all the rest you need,” Alibaba said. He hoped it didn’t sound as flat to her ears as it did to his.

Once she was gone, Alibaba sighed.

“Are you trying to investigate?” Sinbad asked.

“Er… yes.” Come to think of it, he hasn’t asked Sinbad any questions about the case yet. “Can I—?”

“Of course,” Sinbad said. “What would you like to know?”

“You were one of the first to find the body, correct?”

“Yes. Ja’far, Hakuryuu, Lady Hakuei, and myself.”

“I heard the door was unlocked?”

“It was,” Sinbad said. “Unfortunately, nobody was sure if he was in the habit of locking his doors.”

“I know that Hakuei was close to him, but was Hakuryuu?”

Sinbad grimaced. “From what I’ve heard, he felt very betrayed at the news that he’s been collaborating with Al-Thamen.”

“Anyone would be.”

Sinbad sighed. “I don’t believe their bad blood went both ways. Even if he kept his door locked, I see no reason why Kouen wouldn’t have let someone from Kou or Judar in. On the other hand, I don’t feel like we were close enough to go opening our doors to each other in the middle of the night.”

Alibaba nodded slowly. He recalled Ja’far and Morgiana’s hushed conversation - they both thought he’d died in the night, when visitors would be strange.

“Was that all?”

“I was also wondering which room was yours.”

“Number one, down the hall.”

“Thank you,” Alibaba said.

“One more thing. If you get the chance, why don’t you check out the library? There may be some information on Al-Thamen there.”

\---

Alibaba regrouped with his friends after lunch. Ja’far had apologized and told him that it’d be a couple hours before he was done cleaning and preparing dinner, as he’d forgotten to start something after breakfast. He’d let them investigate when he got some free time… whenever that was.

Neither of his friends were surprised to hear that - Ja’far hadn’t stopped moving for a second since they’d arrived.

“How did lunch go?” Alibaba asked once he was done reporting on Ja’far.

Morgiana looked as uncomfortable as he felt. Her conversations hadn’t gone much better.

“I think Hakuryuu might know something,” Morgiana said.

“Hakuryuu? Right, King Sinbad sounded like he thought the same.”

“I think he was more shocked than anyone that Kouen had ties with Al-Thamen. Maybe he can give us an idea of why.”

“Okay. Let’s check that out after we see who’s rooming where,” Aladdin said.

“I heard from Sinbad that there’s a library here too,” Alibaba said. “If it’s okay with you guys, I’d like to check it out when we get the chance. Judar made it sound like there was a lot of information about Al-Thamen in books. I think he might’ve been exaggerating, but it’s worth a try, right?”

Aladdin and Morgiana nodded.

“Did you find anything, Aladdin?”

“Um… that Miss Yamraiha is thinking about getting a dog,” Aladdin said sheepishly.

Despite the circumstances, Alibaba smiled. Aladdin deserved all the breaks he could get. 

Nothing was out of the ordinary upstairs except for the eerie feeling he got when they passed room seven. It had no business looking so _normal_ when it was hiding such a terrible secret.

They decided to finish off the last of the odds before turning at the end of the hall and going down the even doors. Thirteen, their second to last odd door, turned out to be Yamato Takeruhiko.

“Alibi? I was with Nanaumi until eleven at night or so. She even insisted on walking me to my door. Yeah, I know. She’s a little clingy. But she means well. And if you want to know about Kouen, ask someone else. Kouen’s the General of the Kou Empire’s _Western_ Expansion Army, not eastern. I met Hakuren, the second prince and General of Eastern Expansion, a couple times. He tried getting tribute. Would’ve succeeded, too, if it weren’t for the Seven Seas Alliance. Guess I should be thankful.”

Room fifteen was empty, judging by their knocks falling on silence.

“Must not be back from lunch yet,” Alibaba said.

Number fourteen, the westernmost door on the even side of the hall. After a short round of knocks, Judar opened the door.

When he saw Alibaba, he slammed it shut before anyone could say a word.

“…I’m glad he did that,” Alibaba admitted.

“Me too,” Aladdin said.

“Is he that bad?” Morgiana asked.

Alibaba nodded, face grim.

Twelve was Sharrkan. He answered their questions easily: he was cleaning up and helping prepare the next day’s food until late, sometime past midnight, with Ja’far. He’d never actually seen Kouen face to face before, but had heard of his skill with a sword.

Room ten was empty when they checked. Eight was, too, but they’d expected that - it was the one Morgiana had given up.

Six was Yamraiha. She greeted them kindly and asked Aladdin how he was doing. It looked like the two of them really hit it off.

“We were together until Ja’far brought you guys to your rooms,” Yamraiha said. “When he came back he brought me to mine. Then I washed up and went right to sleep. I stayed up late the night before last reading up on some new research, so I was tired. Sorry I’m not more of a help.”

“It’s okay,” Aladdin said. “Did you know Mister Kouen?”

“No. But he did make me nervous. You understand, right, Alibaba?”

“Yeah. The Kou Empire has been looking at our countries like a juicy piece of meat for a while now.”

“Actually, I was worried it’d come to war,” Yamraiha said. “It’s not that I’m happy about this, but…” 

“No, I feel the same,” Alibaba said. “I wish he didn’t have to die, but I can’t pretend like I don’t feel some amount of relief.”

Yamraiha smiled bitterly. “See what politics do to us? Me, I’d rather just stay indoors and focus on my research.”

Next was four. They heard a muffled _coming_ a minute before a frazzled Hakuei answered.

“Hey,” Alibaba said.

“Do you need something?”

“Um…I mean, uh… we’ve been gathering information from everyone to try to get a better idea of what happened.”

“Oh. Like if I heard anything suspicious?”

Man… they should’ve asked everyone that, too. But he liked to think they’d just say so if they did. “That and when you went to sleep, what you were doing, who you were with. Stuff like that.”

“I was with Hakuryuu and Kouen.”

“Until when?”

“Quite late. To be honest, I wanted to speak with Kouen alone, but… my brother can be quite protective. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get him to leave me be. Normally I find it sweet. However, last night…I felt a bit suffocated.”

“I understand,” Alibaba said.

“I eventually got tired and decided to try again in the morning. But by then it was too late.”

“Do you know why your brother was acting like that?” Morgiana asked.

“I think he was scared for me. Neither of us could have guessed that Kouen had ties with Al-Thamen. Our country isn’t struggling anymore. We don’t need power. So why…?”

“We’ll try to figure it out,” Aladdin promised.

“You’re the boy from Alma Torran, aren’t you?” Hakuei asked.

“Yes.”

“You’re so thin… I’m sorry. I truly am.”

“It’s okay, Miss. It’s not your fault.”

Hakuei closed her eyes. She looked exhausted to the core.

“We’ll let you rest now,” Alibaba said. “Sorry to bother you.”

“It’s okay. I appreciate the company. Good luck with your search.”

“That was all the rooms,” Aladdin said. “Who are we missing?”

“Hakuryuu, Sinbad, and… I believe his name was Titus,” Morgiana said.

“Sinbad’s probably down the hall, so fifteen and ten must be the other two,” Alibaba said.

Looking at the completed drawing of the guest hall, the girls’ rooms were clustered together on the low evens. Other than that, there wasn’t much of a trend at all. Everyone seemed pretty separated - no one was next to their countrymen’s room.

It was hard to tell if it was on purpose or not, especially with Morgiana’s original room being the one directly across from his.

Of course, she wasn’t a Balbadd native. Nor was she affiliated with anywhere else in particular. Her people were from a strip of Alma Torran that’d been decimated by the slave trade and the long fight with Al-Thamen. She was Morgiana, and that was that. Balbadd was open to her as long as she liked.

Done with the guest hall, they ventured down past the staircases to the other end of upstairs.

Just as they had suspected, room one - Sinbad’s - was at the end. They knocked, but it was empty. The rest of its doors led to linen closets stocked with various styles and weights of blankets suited to the seasons, as well as closets with cleaning supplies and oil lamps and fuel in case of emergency.

“Now we just need to find the last couple people and question them, too, and check out the library,” Aladdin said. “I wonder where the library is? Maybe it’s across from the lounge and parlor.”

“And then find Ja’far,” Morgiana said. “To finish checking the crime scene.”

Alibaba nodded.

With that, their search moved to its next phase.


	3. Amaryllis Blew

The library.

They’d only glanced over it during the tour of the mansion, but now that they were inside, it felt huge - though the door was on the mansion’s right side as viewed from the front door, the library itself extended to the entire area behind the two sets of staircases that led upstairs. The dust made Morgiana sneeze, but Aladdin at least looked comfortable as he sat on an ornately patterned couch.

The library had multiple parts - shelves, of course, and something of a reading room in the corner with a table to set books and footrests that could also be used as lifts to reach the top shelves. 

Switching the lamps on gave the room a comfy yellow glow that reminded Morgiana of Alma Torran’s royal church’s library, filled with many editions of religious texts with the different errors of production written clearly on the inside covers of each volume so as to not confuse human error as gospel. Looking through them to try to find an errorless reproduction from before the printing press’ invention, then leaving hours later without accomplishing their goal, was one of her clearest memories from their visit to Alma Torran because it was one of the freest things they’d been able to do. No human was free of imperfection and books and libraries only served to prove that idea.

“I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but that Hakuryuu guy is pretty suspicious,” Alibaba said.

Aladdin nodded. “Doesn’t he care about his family dying?”

“It’s really mysterious,” Alibaba said. “He didn’t comfort his sister about it, either. She’s in her room all alone. What’s his problem?”

“Mysterious - yes,” A fourth voice repeated. Footsteps knocked on the old wood floor before reaching the colorful silken rug of the reading area. “It truly is mysterious. I apologize for listening in, but I had been wondering the same.”

Morgiana looked up to see a blond of fairly short stature. That had to be Titus.

“What were you doing in here?” Aladdin asked.

“Reading of course,” Titus said, holding up a book.

“Reading… _murder mystery novels_?” Alibaba asked in disbelief. “Someone’s really dead!”

“I’m aware. People really die in mystery novels as well.”

“N, no! They don’t!” Alibaba looked to Aladdin and Morgiana for support. “This really isn’t the time for novels!”

Titus frowned. “Then what exactly is it the time for? Sulking? And here I thought you all were on the right track, going around gathering evidence. I was doing the same.”

“…By reading fiction.”

“Who’s to say the killer didn’t do the same?” Titus asked. “Murderers are people too, and novels of murder are wells of information. Is it not possible that the killer found their trick from a novel?”

“Titus has a point,” Morgiana said. “Finding out how Kouen was killed might help us figure out who did it.” 

“So how many tricks have you found?” Aladdin asked. Being rude wouldn’t help them talk to Titus at all. Being nice was the best policy.

“W, well… I confess that I haven’t reached the trick yet,” Titus said. “But this novel is very good! Would you like to read it together? We can discuss who might be the culprit as we go!”

…Maybe it was better if they got back to their own investigation.

Titus coughed to hide the awkward silence. “On the subject of Kouen’s murder, I believe it was only possible for someone who had a motive.”

“Huh? But Sinbad said the opposite,” Alibaba said. “If it was someone who had a motive, Kouen wouldn’t have let them in his room at night.”

“But which is more unlikely?” Titus asked. “We have two options here, yes? Option A: the killer was someone who did not want Kouen dead. However, they had the means to kill him. Would we find him dead in the morning if that were the case? Instead we would have found him alive and in a good mood, because he has someone he could trust enough to let in at night by his side.”

Morgiana nodded. That did make sense.

Alibaba nodded too. “I don’t want to believe that anyone would get someone’s trust just to stab them in the back later.”

“Agreed,” Titus said. “It’s much more likely that it is someone who doesn’t have Kouen’s trust. Because someone who does have his trust shouldn’t want to kill him. That brings us to Option B: through some trick, the killer gained entry to Kouen’s room and murdered him due to some grudge. What their motive is exactly could be hard to place - I gather he had lots of enemies.”

Titus looked to Alibaba pointedly.

“Alibaba wouldn’t do something like that,” Morgiana said.

“That’s right!” Aladdin piped up from her side. “Besides, we were together all night. We share a room.”

“Alright then,” Titus said with a shrug. “Was that all? I have a book to read.”

“Yeah, that was it,” Alibaba said, then made a face like he’d just remembered something. “Wait, no. Are you room ten?”

“No, fifteen.”

“Thanks.”

Titus nodded and then looked back down, returning to the world of mystery fiction.

“Guess we should return to our room for now,” Aladdin said.

“Why?”

“I don’t know what else _to_ do… We’ve investigated everything we can.” 

Upstairs, Morgiana pointed to room ten as they neared it. “The doorknob is moving.”

The other two held their breath as they watched, only releasing it when Hakuryuu exited, locking his door firmly behind himself.

“This is our chance,” Alibaba whispered before approaching. “Hey! It’s Hakuryuu, right?”

“…You’re…?”

“Alibaba Saluja. Third prince of Balbadd.” For some reason, Alibaba sounded very tired.

“Ren Hakuryuu. I’m honored to make your acquaintance.”

“We, um, had some questions to ask about the incident,” Alibaba said.

Hakuryuu’s eye twitched, but his smile remained polite. “Go ahead.”

“We just wanted to know if you heard or saw anything unusual last night,” Alibaba continued.

“No. Nothing.”

“…Er… we heard that you were one of the last people to see Kouen?”

“Is that so?”

Alibaba looked to Aladdin for help.

“Miss Hakuei said she wanted to talk to Uncle Kouen last night alone, but that you stayed with her all night.”

“Anyone who invites Al-Thamen into their country is dangerous,” Hakuryuu said. “Surely you agree? It would have been worse for me to leave my sister alone with him.”

“Well… I understand how you feel, but… Do you know Judar?” Aladdin asked.

“Judar?” Hakuryuu repeated, a bit surprised by the conversation’s sudden turn. “I don’t. But he’s a member of Al-Thamen, and they’re all the same.”

Aladdin and Alibaba exchanged a look. Hakuryuu’s tone was the same as Sinbad’s - he believed that Al-Thamen was united in their ability to spread destruction through the world alone. Though Morgiana liked to try to give people the benefit of the doubt, perhaps there was truth in Hakuryuu’s words.

“Please tell us about them,” Aladdin said. “Although I’m the prince of Alma Torran, I don’t know as much about Al-Thamen as you and King Sinbad do. I’ve been in hiding most of my life. This is the first I’ve ever been so close to a member of it. We need to figure out if Judar might’ve been the one who killed Kouen.”

“I doubt it,” Hakuryuu said. “Even if he’s capable of killing - no, even if he’s killed hundreds of people, I don’t think he’d kill one of Al-Thamen’s supporters. It doesn’t make sense for a member to betray their organization. He’d be killed in retaliation.”

“Did Kouen really support them?” Alibaba asked. “Why would he support an organization that causes so much destruction? And it’d help explain why he was killed if he was planning on backstabbing them.”

“BBut Al-Thamen doesn’t kill their supporters,” Hakuryuu said. “Maybe they would if everyone else in the world died, but they need allies just as Kou did. So Kouen must have decided they’d be a suitable ally, even if it meant inviting thousands of murderers in. That’s not a pledge that one can go back on. When have any of Al-Thamen’s allies ever turned their heels to fight them instead?”

“Never,” Alibaba said. “You’re right.”

“But there’s one thing I still don’t understand,” Aladdin said. “If you know why Kouen did it, why were you so surprised about it?”

“…Being able to understand is not the same as being able to forgive,” Hakuryuu said quietly.

“I understand. Do you know why he brought Judar? Why not someone else?”

“I don’t think that Judar is special,” Hakuryuu said simply. “Not like you might be thinking, at least. He’s probably the same as all high-ranking members of Al-Thamen: if he’s special, it’s only because he lacks a conscience. They only promote those who can kill without remorse. He is nothing but a bodyguard to an important supporter of theirs.”

“So Judar really might be the killer,” Alibaba mumbled. “Anyone without a conscience could kill their allies if push came to shove. Don’t you think?”

“I think that if he killed Kouen, it would be a direct order from Al-Thamen. He probably does exactly as they say and nothing more,” Hakuryuu said. “The same as the rest.” He didn’t look very interested in solving the mystery, despite the fact that a member of his family was now dead. It was like it didn’t even concern him. And he was talking down to people without a conscience?

“I have one more question,” Aladdin said. “Why do you know so much about Al-Thamen?”

“Why do you think?”

Their eyes fell to his scars in unison. “Oh.”

“Was that all?”

Aladdin nodded and thanked Hakuryuu for his information. Before they could leave, Hakuryuu stopped them.

“I would like to come with you,” he said. 

Hakuryuu invited himself along, easily derailing their return to the safety of their room. They definitely didn’t have room for four on their bed, after all. So they turned around and went back downstairs.

Perhaps realizing that he was almost as much of a suspect in this case as Judar, Hakuryuu stayed close by their sides, not participating in conversation as they walked. Due to his presence alone, conversation became forced.

It was no surprise that they eventually ended in the lounge. There were little bursts of rain tap-tap-tapping against the wide windows loudly, forcing them to speak above whispers if they wanted to be heard. But it did feel safe, with its easy to close door and rainy view of the outdoors to spy on the trees from. 

There were three rooms on the right side of the mansion’s first floor. The parlor, where they’d been ushered in after Kouen was pronounced dead, with its royal furniture and crisp wallpaper. Then there was the lounge right next to it, a more laid-back room complete with a pool table at its center. Someone had played it and left it without rearranging the balls for the next person. Morgiana was moving them back in place before she even realized it.

She didn’t like it when things were out of place. It was uncomfortable.

So was their fourth person. Prince Hakuryuu sat on a loveseat prim and proper, much more of a prince in spirit than Alibaba. He watched the rest of them as they got comfortable, then spoke.

“Have the three of you investigated Kouen’s body?”

Aladdin nodded stiffly. “We did.”

“I see.”

And that was that.

“…Want to play pool?” Alibaba asked.

Everyone shook their heads. No, it wasn’t really the time for games… but what else should they do?

They could go back up to see Kouen’s body again and finish investigating the room, but Ja’far seemed to have a good idea about what was going on in it. Morgiana finished rearranging the pool table, then sat next to Aladdin, who was leafing through his notepad.

“Mor, did anything stick out about the body when you investigated it?” Aladdin asked.

Morgiana shook her head. “I don’t usually investigate bodies, but I’ve seen my fair share helping the medics. This one was very similar to the ones I usually see.”

Alibaba nodded. He too often saw the bodies of Balbadd. At first they came in the form of the starved on the streets, but more commonly as time went on, they were mutilated corpses of the upper class who got on the Fog Trope’s bad side.

Kouen had been stabbed in the back many times. It was the death of someone hated by many. One who wasn’t used to the sight of crime might be surprised at all the blood, but the truth was that most murders were like that nowadays. Hate was in fashion in the modern world.

“What did you think of Uncle Ja’far’s examination?” Aladdin asked quietly. Despite his closeness, it was hard to hear him over the rain.

“His conclusions were the same as mine. I think he’s as suitable of a detective as any,” Morgiana said.

Aladdin sighed in relief.

They all fell quiet against the backdrop of rain. It got louder by the second, joined with thunder and lightning with symphonic frequency. One, two, three, crash. One, two, crash. Crash.

Enough time passed that the rain and storm felt like a real rhythm. She felt the others begin to drift off into sleep. Right, they’d stayed up late… and dinnertime was drawing close.

Morgiana’s stomach growled as if on cue.

Alibaba raised his head. “What time is it?”

“……”

They really should have brought some watches.

“I think it’s around dinner,” Aladdin said with a yawn. “We’ve been here for a while. Let’s go check.”

The three friends stood, followed a second later by Hakuryuu who had stayed with them the whole time, silent. Then they made way for the kitchen, crossing the entryway as they did. It looked quite different now than it had when they’d first arrived. More somber. That was for sure.

Ja’far was in the dining hall directing guests to their seats once more. But they were the same seats as before - though they’d be different when the new day came to greet them in the morning - so the majority of guests opted to stand and talk to their friends and countrymen rather than strangers.

The fact that a murder had occured was no longer a secret. Not at all. So it made sense that nobody wanted to stand with someone they couldn’t trust.

It was about fifteen minutes before the hall was colorful with guests and the wonderful smell of food. Even their host soon entered the room. But he wasn’t smiling with the promise of food. No, much the opposite.

Sinbad stood at the double doors and inhaled sharply before clearing his breath.

“Another incident has occured,” Sinbad said.

Morgiana’s heart nearly stopped.

“Miss Nanaumi has been found dead in the parlor.”

Silence. Absolute silence.

Morgiana looked around to count guests. Four, seven, ten… Not everyone was here yet, but she couldn’t blame them. Eating was now the last thing on anyone’s mind knowing that a murderer was around, and it was possible that others had found the body first.

The parlor was… right next to the lounge where they’d just been.

“We investigated Uncle Kouen’s case, too,” Aladdin said, his tone grave. “So we should check out Miss Nanaumi’s.”

Morgiana nodded. It was important to see if they could find any similarities. It was unlikely that there were two murderers around, so… 

“That’s right,” Alibaba said. “Whoever’s responsable, we can’t let them get away with this.”

They all looked at Hakuryuu, the uninvited fourth member of their little investigation party.He was pale and didn’t meet their eyes. He was probably worried about Hakuei. She hadn’t showed up yet.

“Do you know if your sister is coming to dinner?” Morgiana asked Hakuryuu. 

He bit his lip. “I haven’t seen her for some time. Perhaps I should go check on her.”

“We’re coming with,” Morgiana said.

Alibaba nodded. “There’s safety in numbers.”

“I… appreciate the sentiment,” Hakuryuu said.

Hakuryuu led the way to room four with a brisk step and knocked quickly. “Sister?”

No response.

“Maybe she’s already there?” Alibaba suggested. “We could have missed her on the way…” 

Hakuryuu tried the door again. Still no answer. “Why must every room only have one key? It would be so much easier to find her around here.”

It sounded like he had this problem before. Hakuei had said that he could be clingy. Perhaps this was what she meant.

“Could I try?” Morgiana asked. On the off chance she was ignoring her brother, it may help to have a woman try. “Hakuei, we’re all worried…”

No reply.

“The doors are pretty thin,” Aladdin said. “If she were inside, she’d definitely hear us.” 

“Where could she have gone?” Hakuryuu mumbled to himself. “Sister…”

“Are you and your sister close?”

“Very,” Hakuryuu said. “Our brothers are in a world of their own. They’re strong and experienced; the country is in good hands as long as they control it. My sister is also a wonderful general, of course. But… our parents died when we were young, and my brothers had their hands full taking care of the country. My sister was like a mother to me, helping me learn to take care of myself and stop depending on others so much…” 

“It sounds like she’s a wonderful person,” Morgiana said.

“Yes. She gave me a lot. I feel that I haven’t repaid her yet for all she’s done for me…”

“I don’t think she was expecting anything in return,” Morgiana said. She thought of Alibaba, who freed her just so that she could be free. Some people were that good. They did do things just to make others happy, and because they cared. “She loves you. I’m sure that all she wants in return is your happiness.”

“…Thank you,” Hakuryuu said and tried to smile. “I really appreciate it.”

They couldn’t do anything about it if Hakuei wasn’t in her room. “Maybe she was one of the people who found the body?” Alibaba suggested.

With no other leads to follow, they headed back downstairs.

Sharrkan was guarding the parlor when they left to check it out. 

He raised an eyebrow at their ragtag group of four. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We want to investigate,” Alibaba said. “Please. If you’d like, you can watch as we do.”

“We want to help,” Aladdin said. “Can we, Uncle Sharrkan?”

Sharrkan let out a nervous sigh. “Why don’t you ask King Sinbad?”

“He gave us his blessings when we were researching what happened to Kouen,” Alibaba said. “So I don’t think he’d say no to us investigating here too.”

“Alright then. But be careful, okay? I don’t want you guys putting yourselves in too much trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Morgiana asked.

“The killer is on this island, right?” Sharrkan said. He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “They’re gonna know that you guys are running around investigating before long, and they might not like that.”

“That’s okay,” Morgiana said quickly. “I’ll protect everyone.”

He glanced to her well-muscled arms and legs before looking back up to her face with a small nod. “You might be strong, but you’re not invincible,” Sharrkan said. “Just be careful, okay?”

Having warned them, Sharrkan opened the double doors of the parlor. He propped them open.

The doors were typical of a parlor - the inside could be seen through the windows in the top half of the double doors. It wasn’t anywhere near as ‘safe’ for the killer as Kouen’s case had been, or even as the lounge next door would have been. And yet, just as everyone had said, there was a body laying unceremoniously on the floor.

Morgiana crouched next to Nanaumi. Just to be sure, she felt for a pulse with her index and middle fingers against Nanaumi’s cold neck. She shook her head when she couldn’t find one.

“Lady Morgiana, a woman shouldn’t be touching a dead body,” Hakuryuu said. “We can—”

“Careful,” Alibaba interrupted. “She can send you flying!”

Despite the situation, Morgiana smiled. She was stronger than the average person. If push came to shove, she could protect them. “I have some medical knowledge,” Morgiana said. “I can take care of the body.”

“Got it,” Alibaba said. “The rest of us will look for clues.”

Morgiana set to looking over the body. A sock was stuffed inside her mouth, likely as a gag. Her teeth were dyed black, but otherwise in good health. She didn’t see any blood or froth in the mouth or nose. Poison wasn’t used commonly in Balbadd, so those were the only ways she knew how to identify it. But by those measures, she didn’t appear to have been poisoned.

Morgiana turned her attention to the likely cause of death: choking. There were bruises all over her neck. Much like with the repeated stab wounds on Kouen, someone had tried very hard to choke her. Several different angles had been used, likely before one had finally succeeded. Though it was hard to tell what was done before or after death. She wasn’t a coroner. All she could do was trace the bruises with her eyes… imagining what might have taken place here.

There were vague marks like carpet burns on her. It looked like fabric had been wrapped around her neck… 

Morgiana shivered at the thought. She couldn’t back down now. Even if it was hard, she had to keep investigating. She ran her hands over Nanaumi’s scalp. She jumped when she felt a knotted clot of blood on the back of her head. She hadn’t been expecting that. Still, it made sense.

If she had to guess, Nanaumi was first hit on the back of the head. Then while she was staggering, she was gagged. Unable to scream, she was choked until death. It was not instant. It was probably very painful.

Morgiana looked up at her friends. What would she do if the same thing happened to them?

Aladdin was peering under the couches, reaching his hand out every so often when he thought he saw something. Alibaba was checking the fireplace, moving the coals around with a stick.

Hakuryuu’s investigation wasn’t as thorough as everyone else’s. To put it bluntly, he was nervous. It was obvious by the way he kept clenching and unclenching his fist, almost reaching it out towards something to investigate, but always stopping halfway. Morgiana doubted that he’d seen a dead body before this weekend.

Alibaba noticed, too. “You don’t have to push yourself,” he said to Hakuryuu. “We can take care of this.”

“I…”

“He’s right,” Aladdin said. “Why don’t you check and see if your sister is back?”

“Good idea,” Hakuryuu mumbled. “Then if you’ll excuse me.”

He left and chatted with Sharrkan just outside for a moment, promising him that the investigation was going well. When he was gone, Morgiana stood with the sock in hand.

“This could be valuable,” she said.

Aladdin walked over. “A sock?”

“Yes. It was in her mouth, gagging her. I assume the others must have seen it when they found the body in the first place, but they left it in.”

“Maybe we should have left it in too?” Alibaba asked. 

“No,” Morgiana said. “It’s a sock, but to my knowledge there’s nowhere to get socks here. It should have come from someone’s luggage.”

Aladdin stuck a shoe-less foot out for comparison. Morgiana placed the sock beside him. “It’s much bigger.”

“I should hope so!” Alibaba said. “Aladdin’s feet are probably the smallest by far.” He removed a shoe of his own and put his foot next to it.

“The sock is still bigger,” Morgiana said.

“So it’s definitely a man’s. Probably a big guy, too,” Alibaba said.

“I found something when I was checking the floor,” Aladdin said. He held out a hand with his index finger and thumb held together. “A hair.”

“Whoa!” Alibaba said. “You should’ve mentioned something sooner. That’s huge!”

“But it’s weird,” Aladdin said. “This hair is a little lighter than Miss Nanaumi’s but not as light as Alibaba’s. Redder than Uncle Sinbad’s, and shorter too.”

“Could it be Kouen’s?” Morgiana suggested.

“Oh.” Alibaba’s expression dropped. He looked so crestfallen that Morgiana almost regretted saying anything.

“The sock might be Uncle Kouen’s too.”

“Yeah,” Alibaba said and gulped. “If so, we’re back to square one.” 

The rest of their investigation yielded limited clues.

There were no other hairs, socks, or other identifying items.

There were no other wounds on the deceased.

Something about it felt like even more of a loss than Kouen’s crime scene. The most they had to go off of was the sock. But considering the hair was most likely Kouen’s… the sock didn’t sound all too promising either.

It wasn’t enough.

“How about we check in Kouen’s room again?” Alibaba suggested. “We can at least check the sock…”

“Won’t they get mad if we move things around at the crime scene that much?” Aladdin wondered.

“That’s true,” Alibaba said. “Let’s wait for Ja’far and go with him, then.”

So they had to wait now?

No, they couldn’t.

“Still,” Alibaba said. “Nanaumi, huh…? I wonder why. I’m not saying that Kouen deserved to die, but… she’s not like him, y’know? She’s pretty harmless…”

Morgiana nodded.

Kina was one of the countries in the Seven Seas Alliance. They’d pledged their eternal support to Sinbad over a generation before, and its two representatives didn’t seem to be here to cause trouble. She didn’t sense the same malice from them that she caught from Barbarossa or Judar.

She was innocent. That was Morgiana’s honest opinion.

And she didn’t think that innocents should be dead on parlor floors.

She had to do _something._

“I’m going to check outside,” Morgiana said. “There might be some evidence outside the windows here,” she said, motioning to the long windows that were so similar to the lougne’s next door, “Or even below the guest rooms.”

“Oh! Good thinking!” Alibaba said. 

They turned to Aladdin. But he was still staring down at the body, a lost look in his eyes. “Whoever is doing this… is leaving a lot of people behind, aren’t they?” Aladdin murmured. “Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“Kouen had Hakuei. Nanaumi had Uncle Takeruhiko. I hate it. It’s too sad thinking about them holding back tears…”

“Everyone has people who love them,” Alibaba said. “If you or Morgiana died, I’d…” 

Morgiana puffed her cheeks up and shook her head. “No, I’ll protect you guys. I’ll go search outside,” she said once more. “I don’t want you two catching a cold, so you should go eat while I do.”

They couldn’t argue with her as she ushered them back to the dining hall. Few were there. Takeruhiko, looking lost and tired. Ja’far, trying to comfort him - judging from the snippets she caught of their conversation, Takeruhiko had found the body.

She set Alibaba and Aladdin down together, far from their assigned seats. What did those matter now? No one would follow them with two dead. “Eat up,” she said. “I’ll get my dinner after I search outside.”

They nodded, each giving her a quiet ‘good luck’ before she left for the rainy outdoors.

The island was tropical, but not so tropical that it didn’t get the occasional cold front and thunderstorm, which was the current case.

She left by the front door and took a left to reach the parlor and lounge. Those windows didn’t lock, from what she saw. They used a lever-like knob to turn, with an added bar in weather like this. But anyone could open them in theory.

Come to think of it, their rooms were the same, weren’t they? Morgiana thought back to the window in their room. To it moving back and forth with the rain as they slept. Yes, she’d certainly noticed that they weren’t quiet windows, despite how nice their frames were. But that was natural in a storm, when one typically put the rain bar on. So she figured it was on even now. Ja’far had probably set it before showing them their room to avoid the window blowing in on them and wetting them as they tried to sleep.

She looked through the dirt and flowers below the windows. But she didn’t see anything like a clue. The same went for the back of the house. She could easily make out the balcony and the windows that led to the guest rooms, as well as the rain’s drainage pipes. It was nothing she couldn’t have seen from the balcony. The ground was the same: bare and free of clues.

“……”

Maybe that was a clue in itself, though. As far as she could tell, no one had thrown anything down. So if there were still any clues left for them to find… they were probably at the crime scenes. They hadn’t gotten to check Kouen’s suitcase or get a better look at his chair earlier. That would be their best move after dinner. Her stomach growled again.

Having investigated everything she could think of outside, Morgiana returned inside. 

“I need a shower,” Morgiana mumbled to herself as she closed the front door behind herself. She was cold, muddy, wet, and her hunger was starting to get distracting. A shower would do her well before a hot meal. But she had to go report to Aladdin and Alibaba first.

She felt a little conspicuous walking through the ornate doors of the dining room sopping wet, but nobody stopped her. Hardly anyone was there, and the illusion of formality had already deserted them.

“Morgiana, you’re back!” Alibaba said. Relief flooded his voice.

She smiled. Had he been worried? “I’m back,” she said.

“Did you find anything?”

She shook her head. “Nothing much. I’m going to shower and then eat.”

Aladdin and Alibaba nodded.

“We asked Ja’far about investigating upstairs again,” Aladdin said. “He said he’ll come with us and do it soon.”

He looked like there was something else he wanted to say, but he didn’t.

“We can talk after you have your shower,” Aladdin said instead. “That way you’re not cold the whole time.”

Morgiana nodded.

“Want us to walk you there?” Alibaba asked, already standing.

“I’ll be fine.”

“No, really.” Alibaba looked to Aladdin, who also stood. “I know you’re strong, but I just want to make extra sure since, you know—”

“I’ll be _fine,_ ” Morgiana insisted, puffing her cheeks up in annoyance.

Alibaba and Aladdin sat back down.

“Okay,” Alibaba said meekly. “If you insist.”

Morgiana nodded. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

It was only when she was halfway up one side of the grand staircase that she realized Alibaba had their key. She still walked the full way up, though, because she couldn’t recall him actually locking their door after they left it in the morning, and why bother him for a key when she could get in, take her shower, and get out again faster than he ever could? 

She tried the door as soon as she reached it. Open, just as expected. The bathroom door was directly right of the entryway in the same way they were in fancy inns where each room had its own bathroom. She took a step inside, removed her clothes, and got to taking one of her record-breaking lightning fast showers.

The warm water felt unexpectedly good after a long search out in the cold, though, so her resolve to get in and out quickly drained from her tired body. It was only the thought of food downstairs that urged her to lather soap onto her limbs at a reasonable speed.

She could still hear the storm outside, the little pitter-patter of rain against their window. Thunder rang out, almost like a gun.

It wasn’t just the sound.

There was also the smell of explosives, like the Fog Troupe used to get their way in Balbadd.

…What?

Why was it… why was the wall red…?

She fell before she could reach out her arm to steady herself. The fall hurt. Her vision splotched, black, blurry, the smell of blood…


	4. Cold Blue Rain

Morgiana was taking an awfully long time.

Aladdin had learned when she visited Alma Torran that Morgiana wasn’t the type to take hour long showers. She was an in-and-out kind of person, not fond of soaking in the bath or spraying every inch of her body with scented soap. She always said she’d just get dirty again anyway and shrugged. Frankly, the amount of time she’d been in the shower was mystifying. 

That was why they left the dining room. A little longer than normal was fine, but this was ridiculous. They had to go check on her and make sure that she was okay, whether she liked it or not.

Aladdin knocked on the door to their room. He could hear the shower running inside, but her hearing was pretty good. If he shouted while he knocked, she might notice him. “Mor? Are you okay in there?”

A part of him really believed that she’d answer. That she’d sound mad at them, scolding them for leaving the dining room and coming to check on her when they knew she could take care of herself.

But she didn’t.

“Maybe she forgot to turn it off?” Alibaba tried. He didn’t sound like he believed his own words at all, and it was just making things worse. What were they supposed to do if neither of them knew?

“Shouldn’t the hot water have run out by now?” Aladdin asked. “I don’t think there’s an hour and a half worth of hot water in there.” And yet the water was still running. It was easy to hear from out in the halls. Because the walls just weren’t that thick.

“Yeah…”

The longer he thought about it, the drier his mouth got. Aladdin swallowed to try to find his voice, but it only made him realize exactly how nervous he was.

“I’m going to try opening the door,” Aladdin yelled in. But when he turned it, it rattled around. Locked.

“The window,” Alibaba suddenly said. “Aladdin, I think we can get in through the window. Come on!”

Aladdin nodded and ran after Alibaba when he took off towards the balcony. It was the second floor, and it was raining. That was true. But if Mor was in danger, he’d never forgive himself for leaving her.

“What are you two doing?” Ja’far called from the top of the stairs. Apparently he’d followed them, worried. 

Alibaba stopped and met Aladdin’s eyes.

“I think we should tell him,” Aladdin said. Maybe it was dumb to trust in a situation like this. But he’d do it anyway. It just wasn’t right to suspect people who had shown them nothing but kindness until now, and Ja’far had done more for them than anyone else during their stay.

Alibaba nodded. “We need to get into our room,” Alibaba yelled over to Ja’far. He probably could have heard even without the yelling, but Alibaba was the type whose emotions quickly reached his voice. “Morgiana’s not answering, she might be in danger!”

Ja’far nodded and made his way closer. “How do you plan on doing that?”

“We could break down the door?” Aladdin suggested. “The three of us might be able to do it.”

“Or we could try the window,” Alibaba said.

“…I’d rather the window,” Ja’far said, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “Sharrkan would be awfully upset if the locks he worked so hard on were ruined.” 

Alibaba pointed to the balcony. “We should be able to reach the window from here! Let’s do this, Aladdin!”

“You’re all the way in room nine!” Ja’far exclaimed. “It would be one thing if you were room three, but nine? That’s too far. Allow me,” he said and walked back the way they came, reaching into his pocket. “I still have the key to Kouen’s old room, seven. I’ll climb the railing outside of the windows in your place and open your room from the other side.”

“It’s too dangerous!” Alibaba said. “She’s our friend. Let me do it.”

Ja’far scoffed. “Please. I have much more experience climbing between windows in the rain than you ever will.”

That… was a skill Uncle Ja’far really had? Why on earth had he learned to do such a thing?

Aladdin didn’t know why he was surprised. He wasn’t sure there was anything that Ja’far couldn’t do at this point.

Aladdin gagged as soon as the door to room seven was open. 

It was the smell of rotting. Of Uncle Kouen. He was a person, not roadkill, so he really wished the first thought that came to his mind was his proud face he wore when they’d met a couple days ago instead of the scent of a day old rabbit. But it was hard to vanish the mental image of rotten game shoved to the side of the road. The smell was remarkably similar.

It didn’t feel like it’d been that long. But with how humid it was here… it was rotting fast. Aladdin shivered when his eyes accidentally met the corpse’s.

…Why?

Why weren’t they closed yet?

They were going to rot, they… 

“…Aladdin, are you okay?” Alibaba asked through his covered nose and mouth.

“I-I’m fine.” Aladdin covered his mouth and followed Uncle Ja’far to the window.

“Could you close it behind me?” Ja’far asked.

“Are you sure you can make it?” Alibaba asked, his tone nasal - he was plugging his nose as he spoke. “It’s still raining out there, it’s gotta be slippery.”

Ja’far scoffed. “There’s no need to worry about me. I’ll open up the door to room nine as soon as I get inside.”

“Thank you,” Aladdin said.

Sure enough, the confidence with which Uncle Ja’far twisted around the window sill out into the rain was impressive. He hung from the drainage pipe and kicked his way into the next room over without batting an eye. It was without a doubt more than Alibaba or Aladdin could do in this situation.

He was dependable. Appreciation welled up in Aladdin’s chest. They were lucky to have someone like him around at times like this to ground them and help out.

Aladdin and Alibaba left room seven, breathing the fresh air deeply once the door was closed behind them. He felt bad for getting nauseous. Uncle Kouen was a human. But… even humans rotted.

The sound of a lock clicking made Aladdin jump. Ja’far opened the door to their room from the inside and ushered them in, a troubled look on his face.

The bathroom door was open at an angle with the water running.

“Morgiana, are you in there?” Alibaba called, careful not to peek through the crack. He’d probably have tried if it were another woman, if the situation were less dire. But today he was serious.

No answer. Instead of the hot air one expected to feel from an open bathroom, the room’s entryway was cold and damp. There was also the cold air coming in from the broken window.

“I apologize,” Ja’far said. “As this was an extraordinary circumstance, I broke the window to gain entry…” 

“Who _cares_ about the window?” Alibaba asked. He held the bathroom’s door knob still with one hand and knocked with the other. “Morgiana? I’m coming in, okay?”

No response.

After the events of the past two days - Kouen’s death and Nanaumi’s murder - it was strange that Aladdin’s stomach had any more room for dread. His eyes and throat were already dry. Just keeping his eyes open against the cold was getting hard, much less looking forward as the door opened to… to— 

Alibaba shrieked. That was what made Aladdin’s stomach drop, in the end.

They stood, frozen, dry eyes somehow finding the moisture to form tears. Morgiana didn’t deserve this.

It took a second to really process what he was looking at.

There was no steam, like there might be from a normal shower. It had long since run dry… leaving them a view too clear of Morgiana slumped against the wall. There were some red splatters above her, daring Aladdin to draw his attention from his friend. But most of the blood had been washed away.

Nobody ran to save her. Because… there was just no way that she was alive.

Her hair, so pretty, the color of sunset… was mixing with a dull gray. A color that nobody loved. He didn’t want to see it. He wanted to see the sunset, not that.

“A, augh…”

He threw up. He shouldn’t have eaten. How could he have been eating? If they’d just insisted on coming, on protecting her for once instead of just letting themselves be protected all the time… then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

Ja’far saved them from their own inaction by hurrying over and turning the water off, then turning Morgiana to see her face. His eyes settled on the top of her head, the wound that Aladdin had trouble tearing his eyes from, and his fingers felt around for the wound on the other side.

“...The bullet went in one direction and out the other,” Ja’far said quietly. He then moved her legs a bit, then picked something up from between them and held it up.

It was a small piece of metal, the blood long since washed from its shell.

Emphasis was on the small. Aladdin had seen bullets before, but never a shooting in person. He saw them and he knew - these were supposed to kill someone. But he never really comprehended it. Not until now.

Bullets were very small. But they were able to kill something very precious. He hated them. He wished Ja’far would smash it up, no, push it down the drain, get it away. Keep it from ever falling into the hand of a killer again. Instead he pocketed it.

“We should be able to find the killer now,” Ja’far said. “A bloody robe inside the deceased’s suitcase, the first victim’s sock with the second. And now here…”

Ja’far looked around the bathroom.

“A key,” he said. “There’s a key on the floor. By your feet, Aladdin.”

“Wh… what?” Aladdin looked down. Just like Ja’far said, there was a key by his foot, half hidden by the bottom of the sink. “A… huh?”

“Is that our key?” Alibaba wondered and picked it up. Sure enough, the number nine was engraved within the pattern of its handle. “Huh… weird. I don’t remember giving it to Morgina.”

“Could she have taken it from your pocket without asking?” Ja’far wondered.

“Y, yeah. That sounds like her,” Alibaba said. “Sh, she’s always… always trying to do things without bothering others. She’s done stuff like that before, too. Yeah…”

“…It’s late,” Ja’far said. He picked the towel up from the floor next to the shower where Morgiana had placed it and wrapped her body.

She must be so cold. That was all Aladdin could think about.

“I’m going to put her in bed, okay?” Ja’far asked. He hoisted her over his shoulder, then brought her to the bed they’d slept in just last night… the bed they’d jumped on, smiling and laughing, just last night. He tucked her in. But he didn’t think to close her eyes.

“…Uncle Ja’far, please. Please.”

Ja’far looked up to meet his eyes.

“Please close her eyes.”

“Oh. Of course.” He did as he was asked, then reached into his pockets and grabbed another key, very similar to the one found on the bathroom floor. “This is the key to room eight, the one that Morgiana was originally going to sleep in. Why don’t you two stay there for the night?”

“…I want to stay with Morgiana a little longer,” Alibaba said.

“No. You can’t. You need to get some sleep. What will you do if you meet tomorrow exhausted?” Ja’far asked. “Plus, I need to search this room. I don’t want to disturb your mourning.”

Ja’far practically pushed them to the door, and then when they were out, he unlocked room eight just across the hall and pushed them in there, too.

“Goodnight,” Ja’far said and placed the key in the palm of Aladdin’s hand. “Sleep well.”

Ja’far shut the door, leaving Aladdin and Alibaba alone together.

“…You still have the key to nine, right?” Alibaba asked, his shock just starting to wear off. “We can’t… we can’t just…”

Aladdin looked down in his hands. There was a key. But it had an eight engraved on its handle, not a nine. He checked his pockets. Nothing. “Um.”

“You don’t have it?”

Aladdin shook his head slowly.

“Shit. Ja’far must have taken it… wait, isn’t that dangerous? I didn’t even notice!”

Still, there was nothing they could do about it now.

Aladdin sat on the bed, defeated. 

Morgiana… was gone, then? Her warm smile was gone? But he hardly ever got to see it. He wanted to see her smile much, much more, and find what she really wanted to do for the rest of her life. Instead… she was just… 

Tears pricked at his eyes. He let them fall.

He already missed her so, so much. He wanted to jump on the bed with her again. He wanted her sneezes to wake him up again. But they never would.

Was he being selfish? She’d never wake up with a sneeze either. Life was short enough without ending so soon. 

Alibaba joined him, then pulled him to under the covers where it was warmer. The rain was hitting their windows, pitter patter pitter patter. Every now and then there was a bout of thunder.

Had the gun sounded like that? Had Morgiana believed that it was just the storm until the last second? Had she… had she suffered?

“How could this happen?” Alibaba asked.

Aladdin sniffled. It wasn’t some stranger dead in the shower, it was Morgiana. He wasn’t heartless. He didn’t want her to die, to be dead right now. Why did she have to? Why her?

No… no, he couldn’t think that. It wouldn’t have been any better if it were someone else. Everyone was dear to someone else. Everyone had someone who would mourn if they died.

Alibaba continued. “She’s the strongest girl I know. She could’ve beat anyone here in a fair fight. So they used a _gun?_ Where’d they even get a gun?”

“I don’t know,” Aladdin said. His voice sounded alien to his ears.

Yes, he told himself. This was his voice now. The voice of someone who had just lost one of his dearest friends. It’d be cruel to go back to the way things were before, wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t it be cruel to laugh and smile without her? The bed felt too big. He was just a kid. He needed more than just Alibaba to fill it. But with Morgiana, it was perfect… 

Their adventures in Alma Torran were on the other side of his eyelids as Alibaba mumbled about the case.

They’d stayed inside an old cathedral. It was different from the church that Aladdin had so often played in before the tragedy - Ugo was the official priest there, and he kept a library with far more than just religious texts to lull himself to sleep at night with. This one was a little different, though, because Ugo was a little too obvious of a target in those days.

Aladdin clutched the recorder around his neck for comfort. Ugo… 

So many of the people who were important to him were now dead. His mom, his dad, Ugo, and… and Morgiana even. What would he do if Alibaba was next?

The thought was like a punch in the gut, winding him from fear. But he couldn’t just lay here and shiver. No. He had to… had to remember, before he forgot. He had to be absolutely sure that their memories together were burned so deeply into his eyelids that they’d never leave him.

They spent lots of time in the little library. At the end, just before Alibaba and Morgiana left for their own home, they spent some time in the royal church’s library, too, scouring the scrolls for differences between the texts and what had been in the dinky little roadside church that Aladdin hid in while the worst of everything blew over.

The church had been a dusty mess when the three of them arrived and set up camp. But it wasn’t long before they dusted it and cleaned the windows, allowing the stained glass to shine in all its colors upon the checkered floor, upon their dirty clothes and dusty noses and the sin in their inaction.

That’s what Al-Thamen would’ve said, at least. The sin in their inaction.

There was sin in the world, they chanted. The streets were filled with them. The sin was allowing oneself to be pushed around by circumstance. The sin was being given a knife and not stabbing. The sin was being given a gun and not shooting. The sin was… 

“……”

Aladdin fell into a nightmare. He was on Alibaba’s shoulders, wiping at stained glass with a damp rag. They were chanting outside. It made him nervous, but not so nervous that he couldn’t finish cleaning the window while he was here. Nobody would ever get anything done in Alma Torran if they let the chanting freeze them in place.

This time, his nerves were right.

This time, the church door opened and the flooded in, each with matching dots on their foreheads.

“Is this church active?”

“No,” Morgiana said quickly, stepping closer to the guests. “Do you need something?”

“Why are you cleaning the church of a false god?”

“T-to repurpose it,” Aladdin said. “We’re just… we’re just getting ready to sell it. They’re going to turn it into a classroom. They’re going to teach—”

Thunder rang out, and Morgiana fell to the floor. Her skull cracked from the impact.

That was the last sickening sound that he ever wanted to hear.

Aladdin jolted awake.

The room was dark. He wasn’t alone, no. Alibaba was right here with him. But Morgiana wasn’t.

Fresh tears welled up in his eyes. This wasn’t the first time someone he loved died. But it never got any easier. He hoped it never did. If he got used to this, then… then he’d stop being himself. He was sure of it.

The whole night was like that. He fell into a vague sleep, then thunder mimicking the sound of a gun replayed the death of his dear friend in his mind and woke him up, scared, to a world without her. Time didn’t stop for anyone, though. Not even for mourners. So the sun rose somewhere on the other side of the rainclouds, blessing their banquet with what was meant to be the final day.

With a typhoon like this, though… there was no way that Sinbad would be able to take them out on the ocean to be picked up by the captains he’d arranged. It was even more dangerous to try that than it was to stay here and wait for a killer they couldn’t see to pick them all off.

Then again… Ja’far said that he could find the culprit now that he knew a gun was involved. Guns weren’t small, after all. There were only so many places one could hide them.

Alibaba was stirring beside him, too.

“Morning,” Alibaba said, his voice hoarse from tears and sleep just as fitful as Aladdin’s.

“Let’s go see Ja’far. He might know something now.”

Alibaba nodded.

Neither of them wanted a shower. Not after yesterday. So all they did was brush their teeth before they left room eight.

Come to think of it, they had new neighbors now. Hakuryuu was room ten and Yamraiha was room six. They were… a little quieter than Nerva in the morning, thankfully.

It was breakfast time, wasn’t it? They headed down towards the dining hall whether it was or wasn’t. It was the most likely place for others to gather, so they headed for it naturally, hoping for comfort in numbers.

A few people were there already. Takeruhiko, Sharrkan, Yamraiha, Titus, and Judar. They sat close enough to each other to make conversation, but not close enough that they looked like friends. Except for Sharrkan and Yamraiha, who were sitting right beside each other, Sharrkan encroaching ever further into her personal space. Still, she didn’t seem to mind much.

“You’re a princess,” he said. “And I’m basically a knight. It’s a knight’s duty to protect princesses, you know!”

“I’m the daughter of a chancellor. That’s hardly the same thing as princess,” she said. She didn’t sound all too happy, nor did she look it. But who could blame her? This was one of the few occasions where one didn’t want to see a happy face.

Aladdin’s eyes were drawn to Judar, just to check. He didn’t look happy. He was smiling in a vacant sort of way, though, like how so many members of Al-Thamen did. What were his blank eyes seeing right now…?

Aladdin shook his head to clear his thoughts. They sat away from him, closer to Titus and Takeruhiko than anyone.

“It looks like Ja’far is working on breakfast,” Aladdin whispered.

Alibaba nodded.

Aladdin sat directly across from Takeruhiko. Morgiana wasn’t the only one who died yesterday. Takueruhiko had lost someone precious to him, too.

“I’m sorry to hear about Miss Nanaumi,” Aladdin said quietly.

Takeruhiko nodded just so, so that Aladdin knew he heard. But he didn’t respond for quite some time. “I heard about the girl, too,” he said. “Mor… Morgiana, right? She was so young. She didn’t deserve that.”

The table quieted down for a moment.

Then for some reason, a book slid across the table.

“Here,” Titus said. “Why don’t you two take it easy today and read something instead?”

Aladdin looked down at the cover. He expected a mystery, but it wasn’t. It looked like an adventure novel, one with four kids on a raft on the front. They were all smiling, holding on like it was the most fun they’d ever had, but knew that they’d do something just as fun tomorrow too.

It was hard not to feel a little jealous at the paper people. So he looked back up at reality.

“Did you get tired of mysteries?” Aladdin asked.

Titus frowned. “You can learn a lot from other books, too. I read three or four yesterday, and what I learned more than any trick was that the important thing is the heart, and mystery books are so often lacking in heart. So if you want to avenge Morgiana, I recommend you read this.”

“Why this one?”

“I enjoyed it very much.”

…Titus truly lived with his head in the clouds. Aladdin didn’t think that was a bad thing, though. Maybe the only way to enjoy something in a place like this was to hide from the reality of it all… or maybe this wasn’t hiding at all. Maybe it was just trying to find the silver lining in it all - that they were still alive, even if others couldn’t, and that they could still read adventure novels and smile. “Thank you,” Aladdin said. “I’ll read a little tonight. Once we’ve investigated some more.”

The door opened. Sinbad and Barbarossa came through. Barbarossa locked eyes with Aladdin, smiled, and walked over. “I heard that the girl died,” he said. “My condolences. Here I’d thought of her as a fighter.”

“She… she is a fighter.”

“ _Was._ Grammar, my boy.” Barbarossa smiled once more, then took a seat.

“……”

Aladdin didn’t have an appetite. He was realizing that more and more as people slowly filled the dining hall, taking the first seat they set their eyes on.

Aladdin counted the guests to keep his mind off of everything else. Three absences, as far as he could tell - Ja’far, Hakuryuu, and Hakuei.

The door opened a bit loudly. Not the kitchen door, but the door to the hall. Hakuryuu stepped in, his hand still holding one side of the double doors open. He looked around.

“……”

He was looking for Miss Hakuei, wasn’t he? But she wasn’t here.

Hakuryuu sighed, somewhere between frustration and anxiety, and then took the seat next to Alibaba. “I still can’t find her,” he said. “I haven’t seen her since yesterday. She won’t answer her door. I even asked Lady Yamraiha, and she wouldn’t come out, I…”

“Calm down, Hakuryuu,” Alibaba said. But it didn’t really help. Hakuryuu just looked annoyed.

“She might just be morning,” Aladdin said. “Still, I’m worried too… A lot of girls have been…”

“…Right,” Hakuryuu said and gulped. “Yes. I also heard about Lady Morgiana. If not for Kouen’s death, I’d think that the killer was purposefully targeting women.”

“But why?” Alibaba asked.

“Why do you think?” Hakuryuu said and laughed dryly. “Or perhaps it’s because they’re trying to obstruct their true goal and the women are the easiest targets.”

Aladdin shook his head. “That’s impossible. Morgiana isn’t… she isn’t just an ‘easy target.’ She could have broken all of your bones if she wanted to.”

“As much as I’m sure you’d like to believe that… the fact is that the murderer was able to kill her.”

“But not without a gun,” Alibaba said. “They had to use a gun, and… ugh, where’s Ja’far!? Did he really not find it?”

Hakuryuu cocked his head to the side. “A gun?”

“You didn’t hear about it?” Aladdin asked.

Hakuryuu shook his head. But he didn’t look all that surprised. “I thought that might be the case. A gun, I mean. Really, we ought to have searched everyone’s rooms and person as soon as Kouen was found. But…” 

“But no one thought it’d get this bad,” Alibaba finished. “Yeah. And no one knew what to do after Nanaumi was found, either. But now it’s too late, isn’t it? They have to have hid the gun already, and if they didn’t, what’s keeping them from shooting us if we try to say something?”

Hakuryuu nodded. “Yes, they could easily kill us all if we push back too hard. It’s better to proceed with caution… You might want to pull back on investigating so much, too. It may be what caused them to kill Lady Morgiana.”

That was possible, wasn’t it… But it wasn’t a good feeling. Aladdin wasn’t sure any kind of motive would feel good, though.

In any case, Hakuryuu was right. Acting too far out of the norm now could put everyone else’s lives in danger too. They should try to keep investigating to a minimum, and… and not suggest anything too drastic. After all… what would he do if he lost Alibaba next? Aladdin gripped the flute hanging from his neck. He wouldn’t be able to handle it.

They couldn’t investigate too closely by themselves because they alone might get the killer’s attention. They couldn’t investigate as a group because the killer could retaliate and shoot them all. The safest course of action was to stay observant and avoid being alone with people he couldn’t trust. He had to stick with Alibaba from here on out.

The door to the kitchen opened. Out came Ja’far, holding a massive platter in each hand. Spiced sausages, lentils and eggs. Sharrkan jumped up out of his seat and grabbed the platters to help, and the two of them worked together to fill the table with mouthwatering creations.

The two sat once they finished. Normally everyone started digging in the second the last person was seated. But no one ate. Not even Judar, who was normally the rudest of the lot by far. Even he was looking around the group curiously.

Aladdin followed his gaze. Everyone looked… nauseous.

“…How can we be sure that this food is safe?” Takeruhiko asked. “Three people are dead. No, most likely four. Nobody’s seen the princess from Kou in a while. Is it really such a good idea to sit and eat here in this mansion of murder?”

His words fell uncomfortably on everyone. Honestly… Aladdin just wasn’t hungry. Even when he looked at the food, even when his mouth watered from the aroma, he didn’t really feel like eating. Because… well, people were dead. Why should they be feasting?

Why, Ja’far?

That was what he wanted to ask.

“Now, now,” Sinbad said. He pulled a piece of fresh flatbread to his plate, then spooned couscous and roasted peppers to keep it company. “I’ll take the first bite if it makes anyone feel better.”

Ja’far nodded and filled his plate, too. So did Sharrkan.

The three Sindrians took several bites of aromatic food before Barbarossa laughed and did the same. “What are we, scared children? Really now.” He took from the dishes that Sinbad and his servants hadn’t, too, and swallowed bites without hesitation. “Delicious as always.”

“……”

Alibaba and Yamraiha quietly filled their plates, too. Then Judar and Titus. Eventually Aladdin forced his stomach to accept the idea enough to spoon a little bit of a summer soup into his mouth. It was good, just as he knew it’d be. But he kept Takeruhiko’s words in mind anyway.

Poison, huh? Yes, it was possible that the killer could use poison to kill them all off, either as a group, or one by one. It seemed awfully cruel, but… could they really expect a killer to be kind?

A gun flashed in his mind. He didn’t know what the gun that’d killed Morgiana looked like, but he knew the general frame of them, and the smell of gunpowder. 

He shivered. Maybe summer soup was a bad idea. Maybe he should be trying to stay warm. And yet… he didn’t stop himself from taking another cold sip, and another, and finishing his plate. He set his spoon down, then looked over at Ja’far and cleared his throat.

“Uncle Ja’far, I have a question,” Aladdin said.

Everyone tensed. All it took was that one sentence.

“What is it?” Ja’far asked.

“What… did you find yesterday? You’ve been examining the bodies, haven’t you? Please tell us what you learned.”

“…Not much,” Ja’far admitted. “I asked everyone if I could search their rooms, but…”

“Why should I let you?” Takeruhiko asked. “We all know that you’re the ones doing it. It’d be so damn easy for you to waltz on in under the guise of searching and shoot me just like you did that girl.”

“We didn’t,” Ja’far objected. “Why would Sindria…?”

“He’s right,” Alibaba said and stood. “Sindria has been nothing but kind to us. Shouldn’t we be more worried about the people here with Al-Thamen ties?”

Everyone looked at Judar first, who smiled at the challenge. Then to Barbarossa who did the same. Then to Yamraiha, who just plain looked nervous.

“It’s not like that,” Yamraiha said quietly. “I-I have nothing to do with them. It’s my father. If it were my decision, I…”

“Yeah, she’s innocent!” Sharrkan said, loud where Yamraiha was quiet. “Can’t you see that!?”

“…I didn’t need _you_ to defend me!”

Their bickering stole the conversation and lightened the atmosphere. It was both a blessing and a curse, having people like that around. Because… the killer was in this room, weren’t they?

…Unless… Lady Hakuei…?

No… no, that couldn’t be. Hakuryuu would be too upset. And Hakuei was kind. Their short meetings had been nothing but pleasant, despite the circumstances.

Aladdin tried to shake the thought out of his head. But there was a voice in there that was getting louder with each passing day. As much as he wanted to trust everyone, was that really in their best interest? Shouldn’t they be searching based on objective facts rather than who was kind to him and who wasn’t? No, even more than that… couldn’t it just be someone he didn’t know?

He didn’t love Judar or Barbarossa. That was true. They were people who made him nervous, just like Kouen had been. And yet… a part of him didn’t want to blame them, either. He didn’t want to find the killer. He didn’t want there to be a killer. But there was.

“Please answer the question, Uncle Ja’far,” Aladdin said, loud enough to be heard over Sharrkan and Yamraiha’s bickering.

“…I didn’t find any conclusive evidence anywhere,” Ja’far admitted. “I’m sorry.”

“Did you find my sister?” Hakuryuu asked.

“I haven’t heard from her.”

“Please, allow me to break down the door in her room.”

Ja’far and Sharrkan exchanged a glance. But they looked back to Sinbad before agreeing on anything.

Sinbad nodded. “We don’t know if she’s mourning or if something has happened, but I see no reason to not check on her and break her out at this point, if everyone else is in agreement. Things are too dire to just assume that everything will be okay.”

Hakuryuu nodded. “Please join me, then. We can break it down now, and—”

“No. We need to eat first,” Sinbad said. “This stress is taking a lot out of all of us. We need to rest and recharge, and what better way to do it than eat?”

And so they did. Once the banquet was nothing but crumbs, Sinbad and his staff joined Hakuryuu by the dining room’s door.

“I’ll come too,” Alibaba said.

Hakuryuu shook his head. “No, it’s best if the smallest amount of people possible enter the room, in case there’s been a crime. Nobody will obscure my sister’s justice…”

He sounded scary. So they let him go with Sinbad, Ja’far, and Sharrkan as his company.

“What should we do now?” Aladdin asked. He couldn’t help but lay with the edges of the pages on the book Titus had gifted him. It was calming, in a way. 

“I say we follow them anyway,” Alibaba said.

Aladdin thought of the killer for a brief moment - the hazy outline of someone he didn’t know. Would they be upset if they broke Hakuei out? No, if… if the killer had something to do with her disappearance, wouldn’t they want people to find her as proof of their ability to kill?

It was hard knowing what to do. Now more than ever he felt that there was a thin line between courage and cowardice, and the sea of decisions most would consider stupid on either side.

At the very least, he knew that he could trust Alibaba. So he ended up nodding.

And so they followed after the others, just in time to hear the door break open at the top of the hall. They continued to walk forward, closer and closer, but no matter how close they got they never heard screaming or shouting. That was a good sign.

Sharrkan left the room before they ever reached it. He spotted them just as he exited. “What are you two doing? We told you not to come.”

“We just really wanted to see for ourselves,” Alibaba said.

Sharrkan rolled his eyes. “Oh, fine. But there’s not much to see, honestly. I mean… she’s not even in there.”

Aladdin’s heart skipped a beat. “She’s not?”

Sharrkan shook his head.

The others soon exited the room too, confused.

It wasn’t a big room. None of the rooms were. There was no way that a search party of four would leave corners unchecked. So if they all said she wasn’t in there, she wasn’t in there.

“…Where could she be…?”

Nobody had the answer.

They were on an island in the middle of a typhoon, with no means to communicate with the outside world. If she went outside, she couldn’t go far.

“Let’s split up to try to cover as much ground as possible,” Sinbad said.

“Shouldn’t we go in pairs?” Aladdin asked. No one had been killed who wasn’t alone, so… it was probably safe. Wasn’t it? He was doubting every thought he had.

“…You’re a kid, so I agree. Go with Alibaba,” Sinbad said. “I think the rest of us can take care of ourselves, though. She could be in danger if she wandered outside, after all, and we should try to reach her as soon as possible.”

Sharrkan and Ja’far nodded, both taking off. Hakuryuu and Sinbad soon followed. They all went down the stairs and towards different doors to outside.

“This isn’t safe,” Aladdin said. “We’re… there’s a gun! It’s still out there!”

Nobody heard him, though. Nobody but Alibaba. “We should get the others,” he said. “Maybe if everyone goes after them, they’ll be able to stop anything from happening.”

“But…”

But even if they made a crowd, that just meant they’d have gotten the killer’s attention, right? Or… or maybe the killer was among the original four and they’d be sending someone innocent to their death by asking?

No.

He didn’t want to think about this. 

He shouldn’t have eaten anything earlier.

“I don’t want anyone else to die,” Aladdin said. “We have to… have to…”

Alibaba put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go after them.”

Aladdin nodded. 

\---

In the end, they just came back inside muddy and shivering, having never seen any of the others despite searching for what felt like hours. They changed into dry clothes, then went back downstairs to see if Sharrkan and Ja’far might have returned to cook.

Ja’far was in there when they arrived. Aladdin wasn’t sure if he was glad to see him or not.

“Did you find her?” Alibaba asked.

Ja’far jumped. Apparently he’d been lost in thought. “Oh, I’m glad you two are safe. But no… I was unable to find her.”

“And the others?”

Ja’far shook his head. “I haven’t seen them.”

Unease prickled at Aladdin’s stomach. “W, we have to look.”

Alibaba nodded.

“I’ll be here,” Ja’far promised. “Someone needs to make sure that we don’t all starve, and you’ll know where to find me if anything happens.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Alibaba asked. “Someone might—”

“I’ll be fine,” Ja’far interrupted. “I’m stronger than I look.”

That was what Morgiana said, too. But she wasn’t fine. “I don’t—”

“I’ll be _fine_ ,” Ja’far insisted.

Arguing was pointless if he was just going to repeat himself… and every second they spent here trying to convince Ja’far to not stand alone was another second that something could happen to someone else.

They took five steps out into the main hall when Titus rushed up to them from the opposite wing.

“B-B-B-Barbarossa in the l-library,” Titus said, pale as a sheet.

“N, no… you don’t mean…?”

Titus nodded quickly.

They all ran to the library, but it was too late. There was nothing they could do. Because no one could have survived that.

Barbarossa was lying on his back with one of the parlor’s display scimitars driven into his heart. His eyes were closed, like he was asleep… but his fingers were curled like a dead spider’s legs, like he’d wanted to reach for the sword, to stop this tragedy from happening… 

Aladdin gulped.

He didn’t want to see this man dead on the floor before him. Not when he’d been so proud in life.

But a voice spoke to him from the corner of his mind.

If Aladdin himself had been the killer, if he himself could choose who died and who lived… if he had to pronounce someone dead, if he were forced… then he could admit to himself that Barbarossa would have been one of his top picks. Because killing him, like killing Kouen, would probably save more people than it damned.

That was probably why Titus was the one who was the most upset about it out of the three of them. Because… Aladdin and Alibaba had already cried their eyes out over someone they loved much more than they could ever love Barbarossa.

“What should we do?” Titus asked. “Should we investigate? Move the body?”

“Move it?” Alibaba repeated. “Why?”

“Well… last night, Ja’far and Sharrkan moved the bodies together,” Titus said. “They said it was to keep the whole place from smelling too bad while we’re still here. I know it sounds gross, but they promised a proper burial later, so…” 

Their eyes all focused back on the deceased. The blood around his wound was still damp where it was thickest, from the looks of it. Even with the three of them, they’d probably struggle to move him. Besides, they’d get blood everywhere… Their best bet was to investigate now and move the body later.

Aladdin heard footsteps near the entrance and whipped around. Sinbad.

“What’s the commo—oh.” He scowled. “Barbarossa, huh? It takes a tough guy to take him out.”

“…Especially with a sword,” Alibaba added. “Most nobles learn swordplay as kids, and many others learn it for self-defence since guns are too expensive for the average person… Well, now that I think about it, I guess it doesn’t actually narrow it down at all.”

They were all quiet as Sinbad approached the body and took a good look at him. “I don’t see any real signs of a struggle, and his eyes are closed. It’s possible that he was drugged and then attacked.”

Drugged? First a gun, and now drugs?

Sinbad turned back and met his eyes. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s impossible. We can’t get into people’s rooms without breaking either the door or window, and if we do either of those, then they’re left without protection for the rest of their stay from the elements and the other guests - what if we forced our way in and then made everyone have roommates, and someone died because they had to sleep next to the killer? No, even before that, it’s impossible for us to conduct a complete search without assaulting our guests for their keys. Who says that doing that wouldn’t net us retaliation?”

He knew that. They all knew that. He just didn’t know what else to do. Everything he thought of was impossible, and the second he began to feel hopeful, it just collapsed and left him with more anxiety than he’d started with.

Why did another person have to die? Even if it was Barbarossa… 

The four of them looked around the library for a few moments, searching for clues, but there was nothing to be found. It wasn’t a complicated scene. Many people had gone in and out of the library over the past couple days, so evidence that someone had touched this or that book and left fingerprints in the dust was meaningless.

“……”

Was there truly nothing that they could gain from this death? No evidence that might help prevent future deaths? Aladdin’s mind was tired from constantly being on edge. He couldn’t think anymore. He didn’t want to be here. That was the only thing running through his mind. He couldn’t focus on an investigation. If someone was going to do it, let it be anyone but him. He needed to rest.

Alibaba looked like he felt the same. “It’s been a long day,” he said quietly. “Why don’t we go back up?”

Aladdin nodded. Titus and Sinbad could take care of it, right? Then again… was it okay to leave them together? Aladdin didn’t know who to trust anymore. He didn’t know.

“We’re going up,” Alibaba said. “Do you two want to come with us? There’s safety in numbers.”

Titus nodded, relieved. But Sinbad shook his head.

“I’ll stay downstairs,” he said. “I need to tell Ja’far and Sharrkan about this, after all.”

Alibaba led the way, followed by Titus and Aladdin. Titus was standing close, as if hoping to protect the banquet’s youngest should anything happen. Aladdin smiled. He didn’t want to think that anything might happen to Titus.

“I think I’ll read the book you gave me,” Aladdin said.

Titus smiled, but didn’t reply.

They parted with Titus once they reached their new room, eight. Aladdin took the book out of his pocket and set Ugo’s flute on the bed, then sighed.

What a long week. He glanced out the window, where the rain continued to fall with an intensity that modern boats couldn’t win against. They’d be here for a while still. Maybe a day. Maybe two or three.

He sat on the bed and crossed his legs, then opened up the book that Titus gave him to the first page and began to read.

He made it three pages before a scream echoed through the halls. He jumped up, then whipped his head around to Alibaba, who had also been sitting on the bed.

“Wh, who’s that!?” Aladdin asked.

“I don’t know, but we better go help!” Alibaba half-yelled and ran to the door. He fumbled with the doorknob for a moment, for two, trying it several times before realizing that he’d locked it when they entered. Then he took a few tries trying to get the chain out before he was successful in getting the metal spoke through the thin hole to unlock it. Finally he was able to step out of the room to help.

They didn’t have to look far to figure out who had screamed. Because Nerva had collapsed just to the left of their room.

“H, hey! Are you okay!? Nerva!”

Nerva gasped, opened his eyes, and pushed himself up. “Y, youuu!!”

“Huh?”

“You’re the ones who just attacked me, aren’t you? I knew it! Knew it, I say! You must have been killing all of your puny country’s enemies! Well, think again if you think you can kill me. I, Nerva… Nerva…”

Nerva gripped his head suddenly, and fell back down.

“Hey!” Aladdin said, panicked. “A, are you okay?”

Nerva tried to nod, but winced and groaned halfway through the effort, clutching the left side of his head.

Neither of them dared to leave Nerva to get help and leave the other here, a perfect target for the killer. So they did all that they could: screamed for help. A few people exited their rooms, hearing their pleas - Titus, Yamraiha, Hakuryuu, even Judar. But nobody could save him.

It took less than ten minutes for Nerva to join their ever increasing body count.

“…Is anywhere safe anymore?” Yamraiha whispered. “He only just left his room… right?”

Aladdin looked down the hall. They were standing just past the gap between rooms ten and eleven - Hakuryuu and Nerva’s. Nerva had collapsed facing in the direction of the stairs.

He jumped. He thought he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eyes, but when he looked back down the dark hall, he didn’t see anyone.

It was paranoia. Nothing more.

They all sat next to Nerva’s body for some time, unsure what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have been enjoying reading the theories a lot so far. even though i wasnt sure about how well itd go to write in a different genre from usual, im glad you guys are enjoying it


	5. Mourning Doves

They stayed there with Nerva’s body until Sinbad walked up the stairs and turned his head to the left to see them all crouching on the ground.

Sinbad widened his eyes at the situation, which was quickly obvious: that Nerva had died here in the hall, where any number of people might have been able to walk out and save him if they’d only opened their doors at the critical moment.

“…We need to talk,” Alibaba said. His voice sounded raspy, like the tears that failed to fall from his eyes instead dripped down his throat and burnt it with emotions he didn’t know how to voice. “Let’s get everyone together and just… just talk.”

Sinbad nodded, his expression solemn. He’d probably wished for a happy celebration more than anyone. And yet… 

“Let’s use the dining hall,” Takeruhiko said. “It’s a nice, open space with enough seats for everyone. We’ll put all of our evidence together and figure out what’s going on.”

“What should we do about him?” Yamraiha asked, motioning to Nerva’s now cold body. “We can’t just leave him here in the hallway…”

“How about we put him in his room?” Alibaba suggested.

“Does he have his key?” Yamraiha asked.

Titus patted Nerva’s pockets down. “No, I don’t feel anything.”

“……”

So the killer stole the key, did they? At this point, that was hardly surprising. They could have stolen Nanaumi’s key, too… At least they knew where the other victims’ keys were. Ja’far had the keys to rooms seven and nine, where Kouen and Morgiana respectively had died.

“I’ll help Ja’far pick this body up. We’ll put him with the other bodies in Kouen’s room.”

Everyone nodded, glad to be free of their indecision.

But that didn’t stop the image from forcing its way into the back of Alibaba’s mind. There was only one bed in that room. It couldn’t fit all of the bodies. Were they throwing them on the floor now? Were they rotting, dripping, melding into one?

“……”

Alibaba felt like he was going to be sick. Shouldn’t he be used to the nausea by now?

He tried to focus on something else. On returning to the dining room.

Their group used to be almost too large for the massive dining room table, but now it felt too small. They were missing too many people to be here. But they couldn’t leave due to the typhoon… and they hadn’t managed to stop the killings, either.

They had to stop being afraid. They had to get to the bottom of this. Especially if people were getting killed in the span of minutes. If that was all it took to end their lives, decades in the making, then would a conversation about the current evidence really shorten their life spans any more?

They should have done this earlier. But that didn’t mean it was too late to try now.

They sat, and were soon joined by the people who hadn’t been upstairs with them. It was a relief to see each and every one of them, to know for a fact that they were all alive.

Once they all gathered, Sinbad cleared his throat and spoke. “For those who haven’t heard, Barbarossa and Nerva have perished.”

“My sister remains missing as well,” Hakuryuu added.

Sinbad nodded. “We can’t ignore this tragedy any longer. We have to face it head on, with all of our might. Let’s solve the mystery that’s been plaguing us.”

Everyone nodded.

“I think the best thing to do would be to start from the beginning,” Alibaba said. “Maybe some old clues will make more sense now.”

“The first to die was Kouen,” Hakuryuu said. “He is a man with many enemies, so finding him stabbed countless times in the back wasn’t particularly surprising.”

“But he’s a general,” Yamraiha said. “And a fairly large man on top of that. I don’t think that everyone here is physically capable of doing that to him.”

Alibaba looked to Ja’far. “What do you think, Ja’far? You and Morgiana are the ones who examined his body, right?”

Ja’far nodded. “Yes, but… well, the truth is that one of the stabs got lucky. Judging by the blood stains on his robe, I would say it was an earlier hit, too. It was straight through one of his cervical vertebrae.”

“What does that mean?” Alibaba asked.

“He would have been paralyzed, possibly after the first attack. Physically, the killer only had to have had the strength to push a knife through his spine.”

“……”

How much strength did that take? Alibaba had no idea. But he gathered that Ja’far was saying that any healthy young man could have done it. Yamraiha and Aladdin were dicier. Maybe if it were a sharp knife? He honestly didn’t know how strong normal girls were… He mostly only ever talked with Morgiana.

A fresh wave of sadness slammed into his chest, nearly forcing tears out of his eyes. Alibaba wiped them and tried to focus on the conversation before him. Having this conversation was as good as useless if everyone was too busy feeling sorry for themselves to participate.

“What about Nanaumi?” Takeruhiko asked. “She was gagged and strangled.”

“It looked like whoever did it tried several times before succeeding,” Hakuryuu said. “If not for what Lord Ja’far so kindly decided to share with us about Kouen just now, I’d say that the killer was inexperienced.”

“What do you mean?” Aladdin asked.

“They were able to paralyze him with one movement,” Hakuryuu said and looked pointedly at Judar. “Would the average person have the skillset for that?”

Apparently Judar thought that meant that Hakuryuu was asking him an honest question, because he beamed and answered. “I mean, anyone can get lucky. Especially if they were prepared to try one-hundred times in the first place.”

“…Noted.”

“Nanami’s wounds were also done with brute force, but due to the apparent struggle, I’d say that anyone save Aladdin and Yamraiha could have done it,” Sharrkan said.

“Aren’t you just being soft on her?” Judar asked. “She definitely could’ve done it too.”

“A, anyway,” Alibaba interrupted, “I think we should also consider the location. She was killed in the parlor in the middle of the day. Who was around there then?”

Everyone looked around to see if anyone looked nervous. But everyone looked pretty off by now, so it wasn’t particularly helpful.

“I was with you,” Hakuryuu said. “As you know. But what about Lord Titus? Were you not in the library?”

“…I was in the library for a while, true. However, I retired to my room before that happened, so…”

“That’s flimsy at best,” Takeruhiko said. “And you’re awfully scrawny. I bet you would have struggled like the killer did.”

“I might have, yes, but I had no reason to do it,” Titus said. “Kina has nothing to do with Reim, for one. It never has and it may never. You’re on the exact opposite side of the world from me on any given day. Why should I want to murder someone important to you…? I never would have even met her if not for this banquet.”

Takeruhiko huffed, but he didn’t argue. He glanced back over to Hakuryuu, prince of a county with a rocky relationship with Kina for a long, long time now. Then he looked to the empty seat beside him, which could have been Hakuei’s. “That princess from Kou could have done it,” he said.

“She wouldn’t have,” Hakuryuu said. “I’m certain of it.”

“Say that all you want, but if you don’t bring her here now and get her to tell us where she’s been hiding all this time, she’s going to be in deep shit.”

Nobody could argue.

At this point, Hakuei was just as likely to be a victim as a killer. The fact that she was gone meant that she didn’t have an alibi for anything that occurred after Kouen’s death, and that was dangerous when so many people had already turned up dead. Especially seeing as four people had searched the entire island for her already and couldn’t even find a body.

“Shall we move onto the next case?” Sinbad asked. “Morgiana.”

Alibaba’s heart ached at the sound of her name. Always. It’d always ache, wouldn’t it?

If Morgiana were here right now, he was sure that he’d be much more qualified to be investigating. She made it so much easier to focus. It was just… just the knowledge. Knowing that someone had his back. It was the same in Balbadd. No matter how tough things got. No matter how tough things got for Cassim because of Alibaba’s brothers, or how tough things got for Alibaba because of Cassim, Morgiana was always there with him.

He needed that kind of unwavering trust now. He needed someone to always keep him company. Of course Aladdin was here, too, but… 

“I think it was Judar.”

Alibaba practically jumped out of his seat at hearing such a direct accusation. It’d come from Ja’far, who was currently staring daggers at their uninvited guest.

“Huh? Why?” Judar asked.

“Because a gun was used to kill her.”

“Anyone here could have a gun,” Judar said. “You’re all rich, aren’t you? Anyone with the money for it can buy a gun.”

“That doesn’t mean we _would_ buy one,” Sharrkan said. “Guns are Al-Thamen’s toys. The rest of the world doesn’t want them.”

“That’s not true. I see rich guys with guns all the time,” Judar said.

“Like I believe that.”

“You’re a member of Al-Thamen. You’re the one who’d kill first,” Takeruhiko said.

This was getting messy… 

“Yeah, leave it to me to get dumped on Sinbad’s shitty island and then kill my own ride back,” Judar said and exaggeratedly rolled his eyes.

“C-calm down, guys,” Alibaba said.

“No!” Judar said without hesitating. What a brat!

Sinbad cleared his throat. “Alibaba is right. We can’t get anything done if we don’t think rationally. Judar, did you have an alibi when Morgiana died?”

“It was after dinner. No one had an alibi.”

That was true… Everyone did their own thing at night, even more so than any other time of day. It was the perfect time for a killer to strike.

“Actually,” Judar continued, pointing to where Aladdin and Alibaba were sitting, “What about those two twerps? They even had the room key.”

“Huh?” They exchanged a glance. “We found the key inside our room. Morgiana must have had it.”

Ja’far nodded. “I can confirm. The key was on the bathroom floor when we found her in the shower, and the door was locked from the inside. Though the chain wasn’t done.”

The chain wasn’t done…

Alibaba’s mind repeated that sentence.

If the chain wasn’t done, people could get in as long as they had the key. But the key was on the bathroom floor, a few feet away from the main door to the suite.

Why didn’t she do the chain? 

“How did you guys get in if it was locked?” Takeruhiko asked.

“Ja’far broke the window,” Aladdin said.

“Then couldn’t he have also planted the evidence?”

Alibaba paled at Takeruhiko’s line of questioning. _Could_ Ja’far have done that? He’d been in the kitchen until not too long before they went up to check on Morgiana… or at least he thought so. He hadn’t checked. And Ja’far had been the one to search for the gun, which he ended up never finding.

Shit. He didn’t want to be suspicious of anyone here, especially not of someone who had been so nice to them. But Ja’far could have done it, couldn’t he have?

Ja’far sighed. “I could have done it. You’re correct. But so could have Judar, Alibaba, even Aladdin - it takes no strength to use a gun. In fact, his height would have been easy to shoot Morgiana at the angle the bullet went through.”

“H, hey!” Alibaba said. “Why are you trying to blame us?”

“I’m not. I apologize for even suggesting it,” Ja’far said. “I was just bringing it to everyone’s attention that accusing someone for the fact that they _could_ have killed any single person here is ridiculous. Any number of people _could_ have killed us all many times over, but here we sit today, alive and well because no one has gone through with it yet.”

“Ja’far is right,” Sinbad said. “People don’t die just because someone was capable of killing them at some point. They’re killed because someone strongly wished them dead, and risked their own life to kill them with.”

That was true… 

“Let’s move onto the next case then,” Sharrkan said. “Barbarossa, right?”

“Ugh,” Judar said. “Seriously, what was up with that?”

Everyone turned to stare at him. Alibaba’s mind took a few seconds to catch up to what his subconsciousness thought was so odd about it before hitting it - Judar had been very passive so far, only talking when spoken to. Apparently he’d finally grown tired enough of being blamed to participate before someone blamed him for killing the victim at hand.

“What part of it do you think was weird?” Alibaba asked.

“I haven’t seen the body,” Judar said. “But it’s just weird. Like, he’s a big guy, right?”

Alibaba nodded.

“And he got stabbed. In the front.”

Another nod.

“It wasn’t even ten stabs! It was just one! And it was in the heart. Right?” Judar asked. He turned to Sinbad like he was who he wanted the answer from in particular.

“All true,” Sinbad said.

“It’s weird, right?” Judar insisted. “The only other one-and-done is the gun. But anyone can make a case one-and-done with a gun. There’s what’s-his-face too, but he was conscious for like ten minutes before he up and died, right? So it wasn’t that good of a hit.”

Yeah… yeah, Judar was onto something. 

“It wasn’t long before Nerva died after Barbarossa, either,” Titus said. “The two deaths were much closer together than any other two have been.”

“It’s scary,” Yamraiha added. “To think that the culprit could go between victims so quickly. They could kill us all before the typhoon clears enough for us to leave.”

“And it’s hard to tell who will go next,” Alibaba added. “So it’s hard to know where to be or what to do, because you never know who or when they’ll strike.”

“So they’re killing randomly,” Takeruhiko spat. “Even better!”

“I don’t think _random_ is the right word,” Sinbad said. “They’re attacking opportunistically. Whenever they get the chance. Don’t you think?”

“That’s the same thing! It doesn’t matter who, as long as they have a pulse? How heartless can you get!” Takeruhiko said.

“I don’t want to be here anymore,” Yamraiha whispered. Her hands were balled up in her lap, shivering just enough for Alibaba to see. “I really, really don’t want to be here anymore.”

“…It’ll be okay!” Sharrkan said. He stood up, abandoning his seat to kneel down beside her, holding her shaking hand in his. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll protect you. I wasn’t lying about being skilled with a sword!”

“There are no swords here,” she said and sniffled stubbornly, wiping the beginning of tears from her eyes. “Unless you’re planning on stealing from a body.”

“There are knives in the kitchen! I can use those too. You’re safe, okay? I’ll make sure of it.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

Alibaba smiled. Those two were impossible, but he was rooting for Sharrkan. The more people who could get out of this alive, the better. And if something happy could come out of it… then at least it wasn’t all for nothing.

Still, they had to get back to the point: the victims.

“I can think of… well, a few reasons for Barbarossa to die, but… Why Nerva?” Alibaba wondered.

“He’s annoying,” Judar said.

“…What?”

“He’s annoying. I bet he got offed for it.”

Maybe Alibaba had spoken too soon. It suddenly didn’t look like any new leaves were being turned at all in Judar’s case. “It could have also been because… umm…”

Was there… a reason…?

“To get at Reim, maybe,” Titus said.

“Y-yeah.” They’d better go with that.

But at this point, no country was benefiting. Sindria would be in big trouble worldwide once the events at the banquet got out. Kou lost one of its major generals as well as its first princess, unless they managed to find her safe and sound against the odds. Kina lost its king’s closest advisor. Balbadd lost Morgiana. It might not seem major on a political level, but… she was important to Alibaba, even if he wasn’t important to Balbadd. Alma Torran… well, they hadn’t lost anything. They might actually benefit with Barbarossa down…

“……”

But Aladdin had been with him the whole time, and it was impossible for a kid to do most of these killings. Framing him was pointless. Magnostadt was in a similar situation. Maybe they would benefit from this, but Yamraiha wasn’t a smart choice for framing since it was doubtful that she was physically capable of any of this, so any benefit they got came off as hollow and coincidental.

“Nobody is getting anything out of this,” Alibaba said. “What’s the point of doing it?”

“They could be killing extras to hide their true motive,” Sinbad said.

“That’s the same as not having a motive at all. I mean, being killed as a decoy…? I can’t even laugh…”

“……” 

In the end, they didn’t learn anything useful. Just that the killer was heartless, and probably not twelve years old. It was stupid. They didn’t need to have a conversation for that.

“Everyone must be hungry,” Ja’far said quietly. “Lunch is ready. Sharrkan and I will bring it out now.”

Nobody argued at the idea of food this time. If they were to die now from poisoned soup, it’d be just the same as dying in an hour from a gun or a sword. At least it’d taste good. At least they wouldn’t be alone in their final moments.

The food was as tasty as always, but it got harder to enjoy as time went on. It just wasn’t the time to be feasting. It didn’t calm his heart knowing how much more Morgiana would have enjoyed this than he was enjoying it now.

Another fresh pang of hurt stabbed into Alibaba’s heart.

“Mor… I miss her already,” Aladdin said. He sounded as sullen as Alibaba felt.

She rose up in his mind. Not the sight of her dead in a cold shower, but her as she stood against the white curtains in a makeshift infirmary in Balbadd, smiling to see that everyone was doing better than expected.

He’d really grown to love that smile. It used to be so rare, but it was always getting more and more frequent. She was brighter every day, but someone… took that life she was coming to love so much away from her. 

Why?

Why did Morgiana have to die?

If the killer wanted money or power, some of the others made sense, sure. But Morgiana wasn’t rich. She was a freed slave, not the lost princess of a great country. She was Morgiana. Just Morgiana. Why did she have to die? She wasn’t like Kouen or even Nanaumi. She didn’t have _anything_ to do with politics. And yet, she… she left them alone here. No, they left her alone there. In their room, sleeping on their cold and lonely bed with the broken window pouring rain inside, or if the staff had moved her, then she’d be in a pile with other bodies, each rotting into the same pile of bones.

What kind of friends were they?

Alibaba didn’t know the first thing about what to do. He wanted to bury her. Make her a place that she could watch the world go by from. Not here on this island, but in Balbadd, or maybe in the lush corners of Alma Torran. A beautiful place surrounded by nature. She’d like that.

The staff cleared the table when lunch was finished, the clinking of their antique plates and silverware filling the otherwise quiet air. Well, there was also the rain. The ever present rain. Thunder, too, more seldomly. The dining room didn’t face the outdoors, but it sounded like the kitchen behind it did. So the sound was probably travelling through a window in there.

Hakuryuu was the first guest to stand. He looked across the table carefully, meeting eyes with everyone. “I propose we stay together,” he said. “We will be more likely to notice suspicious behavior that way.”

“Everything’s suspicious if you look close enough,” Judar said. “I’m out. Someone would just find an excuse to kill me for looking at them the wrong way anyway.”

“At least stay with me.”

Judar laughed. “Is that a joke? Don’t go offering to keep a suspect company. Or else you could be the next one on the list.”

“He’s right, as much as I hate to admit it,” Sinbad said. “A buddy system is only effective if the whole group is made of sheep. With a wolf mixed in, it’s just not feasible. And what if, worst case scenario, the killer managed to convert someone to their side somehow?”

“……”

Nobody wanted to team up when he put it like that.

“Alibaba, let’s go upstairs.”

“Okay…”

The last death had occurred upstairs, but he didn’t think anyone would be able to get into their locked room to kill them. The killer still hadn’t managed anything like that. Plus, they were on the evens side now. They couldn’t come in through the window and give them a good smack like they might be able to do to someone on the odds side.

“……”

Now that he was thinking about it, wasn’t that dangerous? Shouldn’t they warn the others? He grabbed Aladdin’s notepad from the nightstand once they were safe inside their locked room and flipped through it for their list of who was rooming where.

01 - Sinbad  
02 - Nanaumi  
03 - Barbarossa  
04 - Hakuei  
05 - Ja'far  
06 - Yamraiha  
07 - Kouen  
08 - ~~Empty~~ Us  
09 - ~~Us~~ Morgiana  
10 - Hakuryuu  
11 - Nerva  
12 - Sharrkan  
13 - Takeruhiko  
14 - Judar  
15 - Titus

Sinbad, Ja’far, Takeruhiko, and Titus faced the outside, so they had rooms with windows. They were in danger, Ja’far more than anyone, considering his room was five, the closest to the balcony. But at the same time, Alibaba couldn’t make himself move. He couldn’t help but feel that Ja’far would be fine.

He thought back to the others pointing out that Ja’far could have been the one who killed Morgiana. He hated the thought. He really, truly did. But they weren’t wrong when they suggested it. It was a reasonable theory.

They sat in their room quietly, Aladdin reading the novel he got from Titus and Alibaba doodling on the notepad and thinking. His thoughts didn’t lead him anywhere useful, though.

Eventually he got hungry again. It felt ridiculous in this situation. But he was still alive, and the living needed to eat.

Judging by the fading light outside, it was already getting late. Time passed so quickly when he didn’t want it to. Because in this mansion… time passing meant people dying.

They had to leave to go get dinner. But the cowardice was rising up in his throat. He didn’t want to open the door and see whatever horrible thing waited for him outside.

But they had to. So he did, Aladdin at his side.

Apparently everyone’s stomachs were calling them out at the same time, because Alibaba heard Hakuryuu’s door open from beside them just before he opened his own door. Then when he looked down the hall, he saw Judar coming out, too, yawning like he’d just taken a long nap.

He turned back towards the stairs and walked, Aladdin right by his side. Everything seemed alright so far—

Hakuryuu stopped at the top of the stairs, his eyes focused on something at the bottom, and Alibaba’s stomach dropped. 

They joined him at the top and looked down, to where Titus was lying in his own blood at the bottom.

“……” 

What were they supposed to say at this point? What should they have done differently?

Titus was dead. Of course he’d come up dead. The more Alibaba thought about it, the more obvious it got. Titus was always alone. He didn’t have any friends here, and he was the only living representative of Reim. It was really only a matter of time.

But… but he should have realized that sooner. He should have reached out to Titus. They should have had each other’s backs.

(But how could they have been sure that he wouldn’t just stab their waiting backs?)

Aladdin was the first to walk down the long staircase and stand near the body. “I’ve been reading that book,” he said. “You were right. It’s been cheering me up. But I don’t think I’ve been learning anything about the case from it. Did you really learn anything from reading?”

Titus didn’t respond. But… 

Alibaba, who had only been a few steps behind, crouched down to feel for a pulse at Titus’ neck. Nothing. That’s what he expected, but he was still disappointed. How great it could be if Titus, who could have just been sleeping if not for the blood, just opened his eyes and sat up with a yawn… 

But that didn’t happen.

“There’s nothing we can do at this point,” Hakuryuu said. He turned to look up at Judar, who was walking down to meet them. “Titus is already dead, and we can clearly see how it was done: a fall from the top of the inner balcony - the space between the two stairwells up there…” 

Judar took one look at the body, then arrived at the exact same conclusion. “Nothing you can do about it now. Wonder what’s for dinner.”

Hakuryuu smiled, pleased to hear that his theory held water with the experienced.

Alibaba and Aladdin exchanged a look, but followed behind Judar and Hakuryuu.

Almost everyone was already there. Those who weren’t arrived a minute after.

“…So, um,” Alibaba said. “Titus…”

“Sharrkan is cleaning him up now,” Ja’far said as he put a plate down on the table for dinner. “It’s tragic, as always, but what are we supposed to do?”

“We could… discuss the case…”

“Somebody walked out after Titus, then pushed him off the balcony, which broke his head open,” Takeruhiko said. “Then they either came down for food or went back into their room and came back down later.”

“Well, who came down before he died? He was at the bottom of the stairs, so anyone would have notic—”

“That doesn’t matter either,” Ja’far said. “Because anyone could lie.”

Alibaba frowned. He was right. He was always right. But Alibaba didn’t like not being able to do anything about it.

The body was cleaned up by the time they left the dining room with full stomachs and went back upstairs. It had been another long day filled with death, more than he ever cared to see. So they just went to bed, too tired to force their minds to think a second longer.

Unfortunately, bed didn’t mean sleep. It meant tossing and turning and flinching at the gunshot-like thunder striking uncomfortably close. Each time his eyes shot open. Because if they didn’t, he’d see Morgiana’s body on the back of his eyelids.

Morning came even without him sleeping.

Alibaba and Aladdin joined the others in the dining room for breakfast, regardless of his lack of appetite. It was a new day and despite his lack of sleep, the much-needed rest had still healed his mind enough to let him think about the murders. He needed to try to figure out what happened. For that purpose, he asked everyone to meet in the lounge after eating. Maybe fresh scenery would help get rid of the tensions from the day before, even if only a little. And maybe they could figure something out from the new victim.

They all agreed and moved to the lounge after eating, even Judar. Maybe he finally realized how suspicious his lack of cooperation was, because he even kept his mouth shut as Alibaba helped everyone find a seat. In the beginning, it was impossible to seat everyone. Now it was simple.

The fireplace warmed his cold feet and helped Alibaba stand tall. “Did anyone see or hear anything suspicious yesterday? This morning?” Alibaba asked. “Even if you think it’s not relevant at all, please tell me.”

“……” 

The storm clouds and dark rain outside didn’t help the atmosphere. Everyone was somber, keeping their heads down. Nobody wanted to meet Alibaba’s eyes. Not really. Because they all knew how they’d acted yesterday, and how they’d probably act again when the next person showed up dead… if they couldn’t prevent another death, at least. And few believed that they could.

He stole a glance at Takeruhiko. Rather than looking depressed, he was glaring at anyone and everyone.

“It was a bad day for Reim,” Hakuryuu said. “But a good day for Magnostadt.”

Yamraiha just sighed. She didn’t have to do anything else. Sharrkan was already jumping up at her defense, whether she herself said anything or not.

“Everyone’s suffering here!” Sharrkan said. “You can’t just pin the blame on someone innocent and call it a day.”

“I understand that. But we have to think outside of this box if we ever want to figure out what’s going on,” Hakuryuu said.

“Do we?” Takeruhiko asked. “It’s not like the culprit’s outside of this island. Anything that happens after we leave here doesn’t matter. All that matters is figuring out who did what, and we should be able to figure that out from clues on the scene. Who cares what’s going on in their fucked-up head?”

“But they’ve not left many clues,” Hakuryuu said.

“Isn’t that a clue on its own?” Sharrkan asked. “It’s probably someone who knows what they’re doing.”

“Except that Nanaumi was attacked in a novice way,” Hakuryuu said. “It’s strange. Almost makes me wonder if there’s not more than one culprit.”

“There’s no way there’s two psychos on this island.”

“Why did she go down so hard, then?”

“She must’ve put up a real fight,” Takeruhiko said. “The killer probably underestimated her. Then they learned from their mistake and brought a gun for the next harmless looking girl.”

“…That does make sense,” Hakuryuu said.

Takeruhiko forced a smile and nodded, accepting Hakuryuu’s vague offer of a truce. Apparently all he needed was for his voice to be heard, since he quieted down after that.

Alibaba let out a sigh of relief. He hated it when everyone started fighting, seems as they had the same enemy in the end. At least he hoped they did.

“I’d like to try to figure out the pattern here,” Hakuryuu said. “Just when I think that I have it, someone who doesn’t fit it dies.”

“What do you mean?” Alibaba asked.

“The first two were people who were close to their respective rulers. Lady Morgiana is not, to my knowledge - she is close to you, the third prince, but not the ruler. Then Barbarossa is a ruler himself, and Nerva is a relative of one. So that pattern is impossible.”

“And we already talked about benefit,” Sinbad said. “Magnostadt and Alma Torran are currently benefiting the most from this, but that could easily change.”

Aladdin and Yamraiha exchanged a nervous glance at the implication.

“Sh, shouldn’t we do something to protect them then?” Alibaba asked. “If someone’s here trying to make every country suffer, then they’re obviously the next targets.”

Ja’far glanced between Sharrkan and Alibaba. “I think they already have people who’d protect them.”

“……”

That didn’t make Alibaba feel any better. Because… Morgiana… 

He shook his head. He couldn’t just let himself sulk. They had to figure this out and stop anyone else from dying. “So we think Aladdin and Yamraiha are at risk. Okay. You two should be as careful as possible, then.”

They nodded.

“And then, uh… anyone else have something to say?”

“Still wanna know what’s up with Bar,” Judar said.

“Bar?”

“The big guy? From Parthevia?”

Alibaba balked. Judar had… a nickname? For Barbarossa of all people? “Oh, umm… w, well, yes, I’d also like to know. Were you close with him?”

Judar shook his head. “Honestly, it’s good that he’s dead. His wife’s way more fun.”

A fresh jolt of hate raced through Alibaba’s body. “You shouldn’t be… n, not with a widow…!”

“What’re you talkin’ about, Alibobo? You’d think she was cooler too if you met her.”

Cooler? He just meant cooler? Did he!?

It was really, really hard to tell with Judar sometimes.

In any case, according to him, Parthevia was going to benefit from the loss of its ruler. But could a man of Al-Thamen really be trusted? And if that was the case, then how many other countries would see fringe benefits from all of this?

Alibaba’s head hurt. He’d spent the past few years of his life too wrapped up in Balbadd’s issues to care for world politics outside of reading the Adventures of Sinbad, his guilty pleasure series ever since childhood.

He couldn’t help but feel that he wasn’t suited to be a detective. Did he really have the context here to understand what was going on in the killer’s mind?

Alibaba looked around the room, meeting eyes with everyone else one by one.

Aladdin. Yamraiha. Sharrkan. Ja’far. Sinbad. Hakuryuu. Judar. Takeruhiko. Then there was also Hakuei, who may or may not be alive now, as well as himself.

One of those people, or even several of them, had killed.

He could cross himself and Aladdin off that list easily - they’d been together this whole time. It was impossible. But he couldn’t comfortably say that anyone else was innocent. He just didn’t know. As much as he liked to think that he’d gotten to know them over the past few anxiety-filled days, it was all surface level.

Yes, he knew the foods that they’d grab first thing at meal times. He knew the kind of things they added to every conversation. But he didn’t know what made their gears turn beneath the surface.

Right now, Alibaba didn’t want to believe that malice was turning any of their gears. Even Judar was becoming a person in his mind - he always woke up a little later than everyone else and commented later than others, sometimes with something they’d all decided a while back. Honestly, he came off a little slow.

Alibaba tried to keep the details on the low, especially around Aladdin, but he was pretty familiar with someone who’d joined Al-Thamen of his own free will: his childhood friend, Cassim. He was a sharp guy who was popular with everyone. He treated the kids in the slums like royalty when no one else would.

Alibaba didn’t think that Cassim was evil. But sometimes he was more aware than others about how he couldn’t just _know,_ precisely because he was friends with Cassim.

He and Cassim weren’t the same person. Even though they’d grown up so close, they didn’t grow up the same. What color were the gears in his heart? What made them move? He could answer that for the big ones, but the small ones were beyond his understanding.

Why had he joined Al-Thamen? Well, because he suffered. Maybe some of the gears cracked. Maybe they didn’t work as well as they used to. It wasn’t because they were constructed from malice.

Maybe that was why Alibaba found himself feeling a little sympathetic for Judar, who was yawning loudly in the otherwise quiet room. He was the clearest ‘other’ in their group, but who was to say that he didn’t have justice in the apex of his heart just like Cassim did?

Of course Alibaba couldn’t forgive their methods. But he couldn’t deny the possibility that Judar’s intentions were just as kind as Cassim’s, and that he could have come to the banquet to do something noble - help Kouen organize a peaceful spread across the continent through intimidation, perhaps?

“…It’s hard to know why people do the things they do sometimes, isn’t it?” Alibaba said to himself.

Everyone looked at him for a moment.

“I was just thinking,” Alibaba said. “I have this friend. His name’s Cassim. He’s done some bad things, but… if he were here now, he’d know what to do, I think. Actually, he’d probably save us all… He’s always been the first person to act when people need him.”

“…Cassim?” Judar repeated. “Isn’t he in Al-Thamen? One of the rising stars over in Balbadd, yeah?” 

Alibaba gulped. “Yeah. But even though he’s in Al-Thamen… I wish I were more like him sometimes. It’s hard knowing what we’re supposed to do at times like this. But I know that he’d know what to do. I’m sure of it.”

Everyone was quiet. Alibaba couldn’t make himself turn to look at Aladdin. But Aladdin didn’t move away from him or anything. If anything, he moved closer. They only had each other here, after all.

After a while, everyone returned to their own business. To staring at the rain fall down the windowsill.

Alibaba’s head snapped up at speech on the other side of the room after a few minutes.

“Find your sister yet?” Judar asked Hakuryuu.

“No, I have not.”

“Oh. Well…” An unsure pause. “Hope you find her.”

“…Thank you?” Having finally been given a reason to do something other than sit here, Hakuryuu was the first to stand. “If that was all you wanted to talk about, I believe I’ll take my leave.”

“What are you going to do?” Alibaba asked, though he was sure he already knew the answer.

“Search for my sister again. What else?”

Alibaba nodded. “Good luck.”

Hakuryuu nodded to show that he heard, then left.

“I’ll look for her too,” Takeruhiko said. “It’ll keep me busy, and besides, we might find something out about the culprit if we find her corpse. There’s gotta be a reason they hid it.”

“Or maybe she’s the culprit in the first place,” Yamraiha said. She stood as well. “I’m heading back to my room.”

“I’ll walk you there,” Sharrkan said.

“I can help look too,” Ja’far said. “Until it’s time to start lunch, that is.”

“I guess we should do the same,” Alibaba said, turning to Aladdin. “Maybe if we all look we’ll be able to find her.”

Aladdin nodded.

Everyone ended up roaming the halls searching, save for Yamraiha and Sharrkan. They moved randomly, without any sense of organization. At first Alibaba doubted its effectiveness, but he soon decided that it was better that way. The less predictably they acted, the less likely the culprit would be to try something.

Alibaba jumped near the entrance to the library. Because white had flashed past him.

“Mouser!” Aladdin said. “I forgot all about you.”

The cat was peering over at them from the library. He was a little skittish, and had probably been hiding through most of the banquet due to everyone’s stress. But he was still here, and he looked as healthy as ever.

Alibaba forced a smile. “It’s good to see you, kitty.”

Mouser didn’t reply, other than to shoot his tail up at the sweet talk.

They left Mouser to his books and began to search.

Alibaba expected the search to last all day. But it only took until they reached the top of the stairs, walked past the armchairs lining the windows and double doors to the balcony, and peered through the glass double-doors.

He felt his stomach drop as his eyes struggled to make out a shape on the balcony as it was pelted by rain.

“…That’s her, isn’t it?”

Aladdin nodded, his mouth too dry for words.

On the morning of the fourth day, they found the woman who had disappeared without a trace.


	6. Funeral March

“…It’s her,” Alibaba whispered. He took another step closer to the balcony’s windowed double doors, peering out to see the shape of a body. Despite the rain’s blur on the glass doors, it was impossible to miss the shape that was so clearly a human being. “It’s her, right?”

“I-I think so,” Aladdin whispered back. Why was it so hard to say out loud? Had the past bodies not prepared him for this possibility?

“Should we…?”

“Where’s Hakuryuu?” Aladdin asked, finally finding enough of his voice to speak above a whisper. He didn’t feel like it was right to touch the body without Hakuryuu. He loved his sister so much, after all, and it only felt right to give his mourning priority over their own.

Aladdin walked a few steps back away from the balcony where rain pelted that painfully human shape, then looked down either side of the hall. A door opened on the side opposite to the guest wing and made him jump.

Thankfully, Hakuryuu was the one to step out. He met eyes with Aladdin and nodded. “Nothing of interest inside of the cleaning closet. Though I can’t help but think it’s dangerous to keep some of that in there. Undiluted bleach, for example.”

“W-we found—”

Hakuryuu froze, his eyes widening. He hurried over and pushed past Aladdin to where Alibaba was staring. “You found her?”

Neither of them had time to answer before Hakuryuu forced the balcony’s double doors open and stepped out into the harsh rain. He called for her, but she didn’t answer. He knelt by her, but she didn’t move.

“……”

Hakuryuu poked at her lips, opening her mouth for a moment, pushed her arms to see if they’d move from her body. They were too stiff. He stood and returned inside.

“She’s long dead,” he said. “As I feared…”

What was Aladdin supposed to say? ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ would sound just as hollow now as it did when he said it to Hakuei after Kouen died. To think that had only been a couple days ago. Time could feel so horribly long.

“It’s difficult to tell how she died, too, since it appears to have been a while,” Hakuryuu said. “She has drowned maggots in the folds of her clothes…”

“A, are you sure that’s her?” Alibaba asked.

Hakuryuu nodded. “The only corpse that she could reasonably be mistaken for her is Lady Nanaumi’s, given their similar builds… But their teeth are quite different.”

True. Now that he mentioned it, Aladdin vaguely recalled Nanaumi’s teeth being dyed black.

“How long do you think she’s been out there?” Aladdin asked.

“It could have been since last night,” Hakuryuu said and shook his head. “It’s difficult to tell. All that I know for a fact is that she has been dead for some time now. It’s clear by how… by how decomposed she is…”

So someone had killed her, hidden her corpse where nobody was able to find it, then carried her all the way up here and put her out on the balcony, most likely while they were all sleeping… 

How horrible.

Aladdin hadn’t slept well last night, and he knew that Alibaba was the same from all of his tossing and turning. If they’d just stuck their heads out of their rooms… they could have seen the killer. They could have solved all of this.

But they didn’t, as usual.

This was a dangerous game. The more they tried to play it, the more danger they were in. Because it was equally possible for the culprit to notice them spying and hold up the gun they’d managed to keep out of sight until now and shoot, and if it woke anyone up they’d soon go back to sleep, because it wouldn’t sound any more malicious than the thunder outside. 

“We should tell the others that we found her,” Alibaba said.

“…Wait. Don’t go now,” Hakuryuu said. “Let’s sit and think about this for a moment,” Hakuryuu said and motioned to the armchairs set out to watch the ocean from the balcony. “Please.”

Even if he said please, his tone was awfully forceful, and they couldn’t exactly leave with his eyes bearing into them… So they sat on the armchairs and gave Hakuryuu their full attention.

“First of all, I need you two to be careful - if you hear a noise, get up and check.”

How was that careful…? Aladdin would think that careful would mean running for their room if they heard a suspicious noise. Running to check on the noise instead was bravery, if anything.

“Secondly, I need you to consider this a treaty. I think that the two of you are least likely to be the culprits,” Hakuryuu said. “As such, I’d like to make an alliance with you.”

“Alliance?” Alibaba repeated. “We’ve always all been on the same team.”

Hakuryuu scoffed, then shook his head. “The sheeps have been on the same team, but not the wolves. And without knowing who the wolves are, we have no way of knowing who the sheep are… We must carefully observe each other and make judgments based on the facts. Sitting around and waiting for an answer to come to us will only lead to our deaths, judging by the ever increasing pile of bodies in room seven.”

Crude as his logic was… he wasn’t wrong. Even if they were fated to die here, even if there was nothing they could actually do… why sit and take it? Why not fight? They were alive here and now, after all… 

“In any case,” Hakuryuu continued, “I would like the two of you to help me. We will stay here until another person comes, and when they do, we’ll have them stay here as well, if they are to cooperate.”

Maybe it was because of Hakuryuu’s serious tone, but Aladdin found himself slowly. “What if they don’t?”

“Then we consider them a wolf for the time being.”

“Why?” Alibaba asked.

“Because the three of us should be sheep. After all, what reason do the three of us have to work together? There is no action that we could make that would directly benefit the three of us.”

…Well, when he put it that way… 

“Anyone who comes across the three of us together should feel that it’s an innocent grouping. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t all three be alive, after all. And there is no reason for a forth sheep to go running into the jaws of what might be a wolf when there is already a hoard of sheep waiting.”

That made sense.

So Aladdin and Alibaba stayed seated, glancing nervously every few minutes between the body outside, Hakuryuu who stared at it with tired eyes, and the hall.

The first to appear was Takeruhiko, who walked up through the stairs on the linen closets’ side rather than the guest rooms’ side. 

“Come here,” Alibaba said, motioning with his hand. Takeruhiko raised an eyebrow, but after a quick look at their unlikely group obeyed.

Hakuryuu showed the corpse to Takeruhiko quietly.

“We have to tell the others,” Takeruhiko said. “They’re putting their lives on the line searching, y’know?”

Hakuryuu shook his head. “No. You need to stay here. The three of us are innocent. The proof is in the fact that both Aladdin and I are still alive, despite being here for some time now.”

Takeruhiko raised an eyebrow. “Awfully flimsy proof. I’ll bite, but I doubt anyone else will.”

Hakuryuu smiled. “Thank you, Lord Takeruhiko. I sincerely appreciate your cooperation.”

Takeruhiko rolled his eyes.

It was another forty-five minutes according to Hakuryuu’s watch before another person appeared - Sharrkan. He came from the guest wing, and did a double take when he saw their rag-tag group.

“Is there some kind of meeting I didn’t know about happening?” Sharrkan asked.

“Not quite,” Hakuryuu said.

“Come here,” Takeruhiko added. 

“Alrighhhtt…”

Sharrkan stepped closer until he noticed the body. His eyes widened for a moment, then his face wrinked up with sadness. “Shit, I’m sorry, kid,” he said to Hakuryuu.

“It’s alright,” Hakuryuu said. “I had… already given up hope of her being alive. She was bound to show up eventually…”

Sharrkan shook his head. “If only she showed up alive and hungry instead.”

“…Do you mind staying here?” Hakuryuu asked.

“Can’t, sorry,” Sharrkan said. “Me and the so-called princess had a bit of a row, right? She thinks I can’t make her dinner and bring it myself. She said I’d get too side-tracked bragging about how good I am at swordplay. Well, she’s right that I’m amazing with a sword, but I can definitely make her a steak too, you know?”

Everyone was silent. But it didn’t seem to bother Sharrkan. He just tsked at his memory of her trying to rile him up and went back downstairs without a care in the world.

“I thought this might happen,” Aladdin said quietly. “He’s not leaving because he plans on killing someone. He’s leaving because there’s someone more important to him than us here.”

Alibaba nodded. “He’s right. I don’t think Sharrkan would kill anyone.”

“Then who do you think would?” Hakuryuu asked. “Judar? You can’t say that about everyone without proof when people are dying.”

“I-I don’t want to believe that he’d kill anyone either,” Alibaba admitted. Aladdin agreed, despite everything. They’d been together on this island for some time now, and he was starting to really understand the kind of person Judar was. He had bad taste in jokes and was crass and mean. But he looked just as tired as anyone else when he sat alone and looked out windows. The only difference between him and Aladdin in those times was that Aladdin had Alibaba to ask him if he was alright.

“Ja’far, then?” Hakuryuu suggested.

“The same goes for him,” Alibaba said. “He’s been so kind to us. Why would he go out of his way to make Aladdin hot chocolate at breakfast if he just planned on killing him later? It doesn’t make sense.”

“…I hope that you are prepared to die for that nativity of yours,” Hakuryuu said.

Takeruhiko scoffed. “Who’s to say you aren’t the killer, though, Hakuryuu? You’re being awfully bossy today. Seems to me like somethin’ a killer might do.”

“I don’t think that the killer would be making an attempt to find the killer.”

“They would if their so-called attempt put everyone but themself into the hot seat.”

Hakuryuu shrugged. “Fair. If you’d rather go downstairs where Sinbad’s staff and Judar are most likely searching, be my guest.”

As fate would have it, Judar stopped at the top of the stairs as soon as Hakuryuu said his name. “Huh? What’re you guys yelling my name for?”

Their argument faded as everyone turned to look at Judar. The sight of him, covered head-to-toe with black, was starting to get a little less frightening. But seeing him so suddenly still struck a primal fear in Aladdin - the knowledge that Judar, just like everyone else in Al-Thamen, knew how to kill the same way their leader had killed his mother… that he _had_ killed like that before… 

“Judar,” Hakuryuu said and cleared his throat. “Come here.”

Judar obeyed.

Hakuryuu showed him Hakuei’s corpse just like he showed the others. Aladdin wondered if it hurt putting her rotting body on display like that. He was such a protective little brother. There was no way he liked doing this. But he was doing it anyway, trying to get to the bottom of everything in the way he best knew how… or at least Aladdin hoped that was what it was for. 

“Whoa, she’s really dead,” Judar said. “Here I was sure that she just barricading herself in her room for when the storm left, just like the other girl’s doing.”

Hakuryuu shook his head. “Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case… She appears to have been killed days ago.”

“Yeah. Pointless to try to investigate now.”

Their little group fell to silence for a moment. Then Judar stole an unoccupied armchair to sprawl out in. “Guess there’s no point in searching for her anymore.”

“……”

It was an odd feeling, watching Hakuryuu’s eyes narrow. It didn’t seem like Judar noticed, though.

“Are you sure that we shouldn’t go get the others?” Alibaba asked.

“There’s no need to get them. And there’s no need to wait here now either,” Hakuryuu said. “Lord Sharrkan will have told the others about the situation. Watching for a reaction would be useless now that they’ve had time to prepare themselves.”

“Huh, you were spying on my reaction!?”

Hakuryuu ignored Judar’s question and began to pace in front of them. “Still… I’m curious how long it’ll take for Sharrkan to return.”

“Maybe we should all go down instead, though,” Alibaba suggested. “I mean, those three might be in danger. I don’t want to lose anyone if we can help it… and this group’s been safe until now, so wouldn’t it be safe for us to all go together to check on them, too?”

Takeruhiko scowled. “Those three aren’t going to kill each other, don’t worry.”

True. Aladdin couldn’t imagine the Sindrians hurting each other, even if one of them were the killer. They worked together every day of their lives and seemed to get on so well. Why would they end that now?

“Did you guys decide that they were the killers while I was gone or something?” Judar asked through a yawn.

“Depends on if one of them is dead down there or not,” Hakuryuu deadpanned.

“Whoa, hard bargain. I can’t help it if they kill each other to make me look bad, you know.”

For some reason, Hakuryuu bit back a laugh. Aladdin didn’t feel like laughing, though. It really wasn’t the time for jokes like that.

“We should go check on them,” Aladdin said. “Does anyone agree?”

Alibaba nodded. But none of the others did.

“Let’s go together then. Come on, Alibaba.”

They returned downstairs, and made way for the kitchen first. They smelled something burning once they reached the dining hall.

“L, let’s hurry,” Alibaba said. But he didn’t need to. They were both racing forward before the words were even out of his mouth. They crossed the dining hall in seconds, then opened the door to the kitchen.

“……”

It was so bad that neither of them knew how to react for a moment other than cough as dark smoke forced its way into their eyes and lungs. But then Alibaba shook his head and snapped out of it. He looked to either side, then quickly grabbed the copper fire extinguisher to the left of the door even though it had to be hot enough to burn his hands, pulled the pin, and sprayed. It was only when the fire was out that they could think.

It took a moment for the smoke to clear into the dining hall enough to see the steps in front of their faces and make out the sound of water against a window.

Alibaba walked around the ash, through the smoke, and opened the window above the sink to let some of the smoke out. Rain immediately began to pour in on him. For once, Aladdin welcomed it. It was better than the dry heat of smoke forcing its way into his lungs.

He coughed a few times, trying to force the rest of the smoke out. Alibaba did the same. Then, when the rain cleared enough smoke for them to see the room, they froze.

Just as he feared, Sharrkan was doubled over on the ground, a steak knife shoved through his ear.

Aladdin groaned. He felt like he was going to be sick from the smell of charred flesh and the sight of boiled blood. Who would do this? Why?

Sharrkan didn’t want to hurt anybody. Ever since he first got here, his priority had been protecting others. Nothing more and nothing less. He wasn’t a bad person at all.

Alibaba collapsed to his knees. Aladdin couldn’t blame him.

“I wanted to take him up on his offer,” Alibaba said, his voice hoarse from smoke. “I wanted him to teach me to use a sword like he does. He told me he picks up girls all the time with it, and… I… augh, Yamraiha will be so upset… Damn it!”

Aladdin shook his head. His tears were itchy as they rolled down his cheeks. At least she was safe up there in her room. At least this wouldn’t happen to her.

He heard footsteps in the dining room. It wasn’t long before Takeruhiko rushed in, followed a bit more slowly by Hakuryuu and Judar.

“I… ugh, I knew you guys were takin’ way too long to just check on them,” Takeruhiko gasped out. “Ugh! I’m gettin’ way too old for running like that.”

“Wow,” Judar said and shrugged. “I give. There was a body down here after all. Guess you better handcuff me.”

“We don’t have any handcuffs,” Hakuryuu said.

“Oh. Well, you could lock me up somewhere?”

Hakuryuu sighed. “Please try to keep the excitement out of your voice.”

Judar laughed. In front of a burnt body.

“H, he’s… Judar… did you do this?” Aladdin asked.

“Nah. I wouldn’t have caught him on fire if it was me,” Judar said. “I hate the smell… and my hair might’ve caught too, you know.” He shivered. “Ugh. I don’t even want to think about it.”

“Maybe it was an accident?” Hakuryuu wondered. “He did say that he was going to come and cook.”

“Who cares about if the fire was on purpose or not!” Alibaba yelled. “There’s a knife in his ear!”

“Yeah, that’d be pretty hard to do by accident,” Judar said, nodding in understanding. “Oh, but what if he was juggling knives to impress his girlfriend with! Haha. What an idiot.”

“I somehow doubt that’s how this happened,” Hakuryuu said. “In any case, we should gather the others up.”

Everyone nodded. They all left the kitchen in a group, trained by the recent events to not stand alone even for a second.

“Let’s get Yamraiha first,” Aladdin said. “Since we know where she is.”

They climbed the stairs and knocked on room six. But Yamraiha didn’t answer.

“…Maybe she left?” Alibaba suggested. But fear had already brought a certain tremor to his voice. This had happened before, and now they were watching it happen again. Everyone was thinking the same thing.

“Or maybe she’s in Mister Sharrkan’s room,” Aladdin said. “He was with her earlier, right? It’s possible they ended up choosing his room to spend time in together instead of hers…”

They tried Sharrkan’s door. No answer.

“……”

Where was she?

“Please tell me she’s just not answering out of fear,” Alibaba whispered. “Please…”

“…Should we break down the doors?” Takeruhiko asked. “There are plenty of empty rooms to set her up in now.”

Everyone exchanged a look, then nodded. They couldn’t have a repeat of what happened to Hakuei. Not again.

Takeruhiko, Hakuryuu, and Alibaba stood before Yamraiha’s door, counted to three, then rammed into it. It didn’t budge the first time, so they did it a second. Only then did the hinge break and allow them to wiggle the door off. It met some resistance on the other side, but they managed to get it all the way off anyway.

“The chain wasn’t done,” Hakuryuu noted. “It was locked from the outside.”

The outside…?

That was strange. That was definitely strange. Why would she have locked it from the outside? No, wait. There was a logical explanation. It just meant that… she had to be in Sharrkan’s room, right? 

Alibaba held his arm out to stop Aladdin when he tried to step closer to see.

No… this wasn’t possible, right? 

It wasn’t possible, but that didn’t stop his eyes from seeing it from under Alibaba’s arm.

Yamraiha was lying on the floor, covered in blood, with a knife sticking out of her chest. Her clothes were wet with blood. Her floor was wet with blood. His nose was filled with blood. He was beginning to even hate the fact that his veins were filled with blood.

No more, please, no more.

Hakuryuu and Takeruhiko took a step back. Because they feared that the wet pool of blood would keep growing wider and track on their boots.

At the very least, Yamraiha looked more comfortable than expected. It was almost like she could have been sleeping - the blood must have been warm, even if the rest of her felt cold… Maybe it was like… maybe it was like falling asleep in a bubble bath after a long day of playing… 

“What’s… what’s going on?” Alibaba said quietly. “I don’t get it.”

Hakuryuu crouched down to put two fingers to her bloody neck to check for a pulse. “She’s dead.”

“B, but…”

What was there to say at this point? Nothing. None of them had anything useful to say at all. So they just closed the door and walked back over to the safety of the stairs.

“We should tell the others,” Aladdin said.

“They already know,” Takeruhiko said curtly. “If they didn’t, she wouldn’t be dead.”

“……”

Could they trust everyone in their group here, then? But that was… no, there had to be something he wasn’t seeing. But he couldn’t think. His mind was made of static. He’d been so, so excited to come here and see Alibaba and Morgiana again, and look where it got him! Hot tears were trying to force their way out of his eyes once again. Yamraiha wasn’t a bad person. She was going to get a dog. But now she’d never get to… 

“I’m interested in hearing what they have to say, whether they know or not,” Hakuryuu said. “There has to be a reason that two people died so close together when the culprit had done nothing of the sort before, don’t you think?”

“There are less of us now,” Aladdin said quietly. “It might be easier to get someone alone now…”

“People aren’t murdered if they’re alone,” Hakuryuu said.

With that logic, they’d be better off locking themselves in their rooms and refusing to leave. They just kept going back and forth on what the best course of action was, didn’t they?

They didn’t do that, though.

Hakuryuu was the first to move. He walked down to Sinbad’s room on the other end of the hall, then looked back at the rest of their group before knocking. “It sounds like he’s showering.”

What else was he supposed to do? Sit and wait to die in the hall? “Are you going to wait for him?” Alibaba asked.

Hakuryuu knocked without waiting even a second. “Lord Sinbad,” Hakuryuu said loudly. “We’d like to discuss something with you.”

The shower turned off. Either Hakuryuu had excellent timing, or the walls were thin even in the master bedroom.

“Hakuryuu?” Sinbad asked from inside.

“Yes. Please open the door as soon as you are decent and able.”

It only took a minute for Sinbad to undo the chain lock on the other side of the door and open it. “I assume you’ve either found the killer or another body.”

“The latter,” Hakuryuu said.

Sinbad grimaced. “Who is it this time?”

“Two people, actually. No, three… since you were not there for the first. My sister, Lord Sharrkan, and Lady Yamraiha have all perished.”

Sinbad balled his hands into fists. “What a bad time to take a shower. Where were they…?”

“My sister was on the balcony. The other two were in Lady Yamraiha’s bedroom.”

“Huh?” Judar said from the back of their group.

Hakuryuu tsked.

“…It sounds like you weren’t being truthful,” Sinbad said. “Though I admittedly am not well acquainted with your sister, I know the other two well. We are talking about the deaths of one of my closest friends and employees as well as a woman who I’ve worked with for the past five years politically. I believe I deserve to hear about what happened to them without any lies or embellishments.” 

“Yamraiha really did die in her bedroom,” Alibaba said. “But Sharrkan was in the kitchen… He said he was going to get her some dinner and went down to cook it, but… he just ended up dead.”

Sinbad was quiet for a long moment. Then, “Where’s Ja’far?”

“Either in his room or downstairs, I assume,” Hakuryuu said. “Our group has been together for quite a while now, and Ja’far never turned up.”

Sinbad nodded. “I see. He was in the lounge when I last saw him - we were sitting there together, and then I thought I’d best shower before dinner… Shall we go see him and tell him what’s happened?”

What could they do but agree? 

Everyone descended the stairs slowly. Since Ja’far was the last living person unaccounted for, there was no real rush. Either someone had killed him before they all got in a group, or he was alive and well.

The killer was cruel. In just a few days, they’d all resorted to these heartlessly calm reactions, if only to soothe their aching hearts and legs. Aladdin knew that he’d feel horribly guilty for it later, especially if Ja’far really was dead. But when they got downstairs and opened the lounge door, Ja’far was alive and unharmed, petting Mouser in his lap.

“…Ja’far,” Sinbad said. 

Ja’far looked up. He must have been tired - he was normally a sharp person who’d hear a big group a mile away, but his eyes widened in surprise. “Did something happen?”

“Lord Sharrkan and Lady Yamraiha were just found dead,” Hakuryuu said. “As was my sister, over an hour ago.

“…I see,” Ja’far said quietly, then sighed. “Where were they found?”

“Hakuei on the balcony, Sharrkan in the kitchen, and Yamraiha in her room,” Alibaba said. “Have you been down here the whole time? Did you hear anything?”

Ja’far shook his head. He really did look exhausted. “No. This mansion is quite large, and the lounge and kitchen may be on the same floor, but they’re on the exact opposite ends of the floorplan. An explosion would have had to have occurred for me to have heard anything, I’m afraid…”

“Why were you alone?” Aladdin asked. “It’s dangerous here.”

Ja’far blinked, then looked down at Mouser who was still sleeping cutely in his lap. “I didn’t want to disturb him.”

“Y, you could have died,” Alibaba said. “Couldn’t you just pick him up and take him to your room?”

“He hates being picked up. And the rot from the next room over is starting to seep into my room as well, unfortunately. I find it a rather difficult place to spend time.”

“……”

It was hard arguing with Ja’far about what was safe and what wasn’t when he looked so tired. More than anything, Aladdin just wanted to help him sleep. But he didn’t know how.

“I don’t know if it’ll help at all, but if that’s the case, feel free to use my room,” Sinbad said with a tired smile. “It might be a bit of a tight fit, but…”

“Thank you, Sin.”

They’d been here for a while now, but as far as Aladdin could remember, that was the first time he’d ever heard that nickname. Sin, huh? It was a lot like his nickname for Mor - short and sweet, straight to the point. They were close too, weren’t they? He was glad, despite everything that happened. Lots of people were killed, and more might still die. But they weren’t all alone. Not just yet.

He just wanted to sit down for a while. Yeah… maybe that was for the best.

So he did. Soon after, Alibaba sat next to him.

Sinbad sat by Ja’far. The unoccupied couch was taken by the remaining three, with Hakuryuu in the middle.

They sat in silence for quite some time.

Even though everyone was together… even though the killer had to be in this room… it didn’t feel dangerous. If anything, it felt like a funeral.

Aladdin spent it watching the rain fall against the windows. The past few days, it’d been so loud that it was sometimes just as frightening as the thunder. Right now, though… it was calmer. Almost calm enough to walk through, if only they had an umbrella strong enough to withstand the winds that still knocked against the house with low screams through all hours of the day.

He closed his eyes.

He really was tired. They’d gone so long without sleeping, all of them, and he knew that he wasn’t the only exhausted face in their little crowd. Everyone was at the end of their rope.

With the warmth of his friend by his side and the rhythmic rain against the window, his consciousness slowly slipped away.

Maybe it was natural in their situation, but Aladdin could hardly sleep. The second his mind surrendered to sleep, nightmares overtook him. He dreamed of Mor being shot. He dreamed of Alibaba being shot. He dreamed of himself being the culprit. He dreamed of being the last one left alive, left to starve with nothing but bodies and rain as company.

“……”

When Aladdin woke up, the room was cold. Because a few people had left it and taken their body heat with them. Sinbad, Ja’far, Judar, and Hakuryuu were all gone. Takeruhiko was dozing off with his arms crossed on the other couch. Alibaba was leaning against the edge of their couch and snoring softly.

Aladdin wondered if the others were safe. Wondered why they left. Until his stomach growled, anyway. They’d have to eat eventually… so Ja’far was probably off preparing that. The others were most likely investigating. Well, maybe not Judar. He was just as likely to be sleeping in his room.

He wondered if he should get up, but it only lasted a moment. If he moved, he’d wake the others. So he didn’t. The only movement he allowed himself was moving his eyes to the window, where he could watch the rise and fall of the leaves on the garden’s trees and the waves of rain wash over the panes.

The typhoon was winding down. It’d be clear by tomorrow… 

Wait.

Aladdin sat up straight.

The typhoon would clear out by tomorrow.

If that was true, then… then they might actually make it home. He looked to Alibaba at his side, then to Takeruhiko across from him. They could make it. They could survive this. But… they had to be careful about it.

He took a deep breath. There were seven people left. The boat that Sinbad took everyone to the island with wasn’t huge. It could fit four people at the most, so they’d need two trips. Anyone could probably figure out how to drive the boat as long as the water wasn’t too rough, but there was only one boat as far as he knew. Sinbad had taken the time out of his day on the first day to bring everyone over, one by one, starting at sunrise. It’d take a few trips, but… surely they could get everyone off.

The problem was what would happen if they got in a boat with the murderer, especially knowing that they had a gun. Aladdin sincerely doubted that they’d leave the gun on the island.

The smart thing to do would be to get on the first boat out without the murderer, find civilization, and then get reinforcements to get the others as well as apprehend the culprit. Aladdin was sure that the nearest police would be happy to help knowing what happened, but… would they get there in time? He doubted it, considering the rate that the murderer was going at.

So… what should they do, then? They couldn’t very well swim to the neighboring islands. He’d been dropped off on one so that Sinbad could pick them up, and was quite sure that the other neighboring islands would be equally deserted. So even if they found land by swimming, it was likely barren.

They had to use the boat to leave, and they all had to leave without sharing a boat with the murderer or being left in the mansion with the murderer. But how?

How could they get everyone to let them go while others were left behind? How could they know who was safe to go with?

He’d been with Alibaba, Hakuryuu, and Takeruhiko both the last time he saw Sharrkan alive and when he first saw his burning body. So at the very least, he didn’t think that any of them killed Sharrkan. It’d have to have been a trap or some other contraption if they did, and… well, that’d be strange. How could a device independently throw a knife into someone’s ear?

If they managed to leave, just the four of them, then that’d leave Judar, Ja’far, and Sinbad on the island. But… he didn’t want to do that, either. Because even if one of them was guilty, that meant that two were innocent, right? How could he knowingly doom two to die? No, what if two of them were killers? What if they tortured and killed the innocent who everyone else threw to the wolves?

Their best move would be to find the killer - or killers - now. If they were able to do that, then they could somehow restrain them and safely get everyone else out and bring the police here.

But that brought him to the original question, the one on everyone’s minds since the first morning they woke on this crazy island to find murder waiting— 

Who was the killer?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is your last chance to guess the answer and sound super smart -u- all the clues necessary to solve the mystery are present now


	7. The End of the World

Hakuryuu sighed.

He was doing that a lot lately.

He’d returned to his room to go over the recent events with no one but himself to worry about. It was going… well. It was going. He’d filled several notepads with the events of the past few days in an effort to understand it all, and now his desk was covered in them, several dedicated to each death, to each person’s - both living and dead - alibis and the likelihood that they could be the killer.

He looked up from his desk for a moment as he ran his left hand over the aching wrist of his dominant arm. He’d been in here for a couple hours now, recalling and writing and considering all of the possibilities. The more he left things to his mind alone, the more his mind conjured details that might or might not be significant, or even real at this point.

He needed to force himself to stick to the concrete facts. That was why he was writing everything down tirelessly as the rain battered his window. It wasn’t nearly as loud or distracting as it’d been the first night. No, it was almost calming now.

Hakuryuu looked back down at his papers, small notes covering every inch of his room’s desk.

He moved his eyes across each note slowly, taking in the information he’d collected over the past few days carefully.

> Kouen: Died on the first night. Nobody had an alibi, as the time of death is unknown.
> 
> Alibi: Currently rotting. The smell is apparent from outside the room. Suicide was impossible considering how he was killed.

Hakuryuu nodded to himself. He’d helped discover the body and personally confirmed the lack of jugular pulses. It was impossible for Kouen to be the mastermind. It was also impossible to gain any meaningful information on the killer, seeing as he’d died without anyone having an alibi.

There were talks, of course, of the killer needing a motive, and that the motive needed to stab Kouen so many times had to be hateful. But was that true at this point? For all they knew, the killer’s motive was murderous pleasure. He’d go through everything with the idea that nobody needed a motive first, and then if one happened to fall into place as he was thinking, well, he’d think of it when it came.

Next was Yamato Takeruhiko’s retainer.

> Nanaumi: Died on the second day, in broad daylight. Alibaba, Aladdin, Morgiana and I all appear to have an alibi. Titus is a potential suspect since the library was near the parlor, but the library is large - it extends to the area below both sets of stairs, and it’s very likely that Titus was deep inside and wouldn’t have noticed anything amiss in the halls.
> 
> Alibi: Also rotting. Unlike with Kouen’s, suicide was probably possible for Nanaumi, though highly improbable.

Then there was Lady Morgiana. He felt a slight pang in his heart - he’d spent a little more time with her than Lady Nanaumi, and could say with certainty that she wasn’t a bad person. That she didn’t deserve it.

> Morgiana: Died on the second night while showering. Nobody had a good alibi, as it was the time of day where most everyone left dinner and went back to their own rooms.
> 
> Alibi: Did not personally confirm her body, but apparently she was shot in the head, and it’s impossible for her to have lived through something like that. This case revealed that the killer has a gun and can kill with it. But they only used the gun once. Why, then, did the killer go out of their way to reveal that they had a gun for Morgiana? Were they simply unable to kill her without it?

Next was… Barbarossa. If the others weren’t challenging enough, Barbarossa had him stumped. But he couldn’t put his finger on why. Something just felt… off.

Still, he’d best start with rereading his note on the subject.

> Barbarossa: Died on the third day in the library with a sword driven into his chest. Nobody had an alibi for his murder.
> 
> Alibi: Barbarossa could have killed any of the people who died before him, but he was certainly dead with that sword stabbed so deep into his heart. Suicide was likely impossible, considering how he’d fallen.

The odd part was his cause of death.

Kouen had been stabbed in the back. Nanaumi had been painstakingly strangled. Morgiana was shot from behind. The only one of those deaths that allowed for resistance was Nanaumi’s, and her resistance was apparent in the struggle to strangle her; Hakuryuu was aware that those marks could be explained through other means too, but he had to go with it for now for the sake of taking this argument to its natural conclusion.

Say for the sake of argument that the culprit was not the strongest. That a woman Nanaumi’s size was enough to give them trouble in close combat, so they preferred to attack from behind. Why attack Barbarossa from the front, then? What merit was there in it?

Hakuryuu had never spoken to Barbarossa before arriving on the island. When they finally met, Barbarossa was standoffish to Hakuryuu, though he was happy to talk with Sinbad or Judar, even Ja’far at times, but made no effort to hide the fact that he looked down on everyone else.

That very same Barbarossa had come face to face with someone who had a scimitar off the wall and allowed himself to be stabbed.

Was he weaker than he looked? Hakuryuu doubted it. People could be weak, yes, but in the moment their life was in danger? No, most people would be far stronger than they looked then.

So why did he let himself be stabbed?

The obvious conclusion was that he’d been drugged. But that too left only a few options - either he took food from someone who he trusted and was drugged from that, or he was drugged at a mealtime. But their meals were buffet style - all the foods were put on the table for everyone to grab as they desired. Except… except some meals had soup. But he couldn’t recall that meal in particular. It might have had soup. Or it might not have.

“……”

Barbarossa was the first person who had died with a limited pool of people who could have feasibly done it. The servants could have done it, as they would have had the means to drug his food. And then there were the people who Barbarossa would have faced, would have seen the sword, and still might not have suspected that he was about to be killed.

Who would those people be?

A few came to mind.

Sinbad, Judar, Aladdin (surprising as it was, he’d seen them talk before), and possibly Ja’far.

In short, their subjects list had been narrow from the third day… at least for Barbarossa’s murder. But that was the real question - was Barbarossa’s killer really the same person who had struggled to kill Nanaumi?

“…I don’t have the information to prove that,” Hakuryuu mumbled to himself. He sighed again and ran his hand through his hair. It needed to be washed. But he hardly had the time for that now.

He was more concerned about the next death. If he kept his suspects in mind for that one, then things became a little clearer.

> Nerva: Died on the third day after a successful hit-and-run. There were less people who could have killed him, too, assuming he hadn’t stumbled before falling.
> 
> Alibi: To be frank, Nerva didn’t seem nearly smart enough to have committed any murders without leaving unmistakable evidence, even if he was able.

Hakuryuu had no way of knowing if Nerva had stumbled or not… so it was impossible to know which side was suspect, as it would vary with how he felt.

Still, say Nerva had been struck and fell exactly where he stood. That’d cross Ja’far and Sinbad off of the suspects list according to the placement of their rooms. Aladdin and Alibaba had alibis alibi for Nanaumi’s death, so they weren’t likely to be involved in a similarly dangerous hit-and-run.

That left Judar, who probably could have committed every one of the murders up until that point. It wasn’t like he had any alibis, after all. Nobody wanted to be alone with a member of Al-Thamen, especially not in a mansion filled with bodies.

However.

Hakuryuu had already figured that much out. If he wanted, he could have already confronted Judar with it. But he didn’t, because that solution didn’t solve everything.

For example.

Hakuryuu’s eyes moved back to one of the notes he’d already read and reread. Back to Barbarossa’s death for a moment.

Hakuryuu had not been among those who discovered the body, and neither was Judar. But after Barbarossa’s death became public knowledge, Judar became far more interested in solving the mystery. He hadn’t commented at all on the previous cases, but he always had something to say about how weird it was that Barbarossa died. It seemed genuine, too.

It made Hakuryuu doubt that Judar was the killer. If he were, he probably wouldn’t have brought so much attention to his own confusion. Because it was so clear that it almost looked like poor acting, and anyone capable of killing so many people and hiding it had to be a better liar than that.

So it was necessary once again to consider additional information. Hakuryuu’s eyes moved to his notes on the next murder.

> Titus: Died on the third night from a fall. Anyone could have done it. With his head split open, there was no way to survive that fall, so any lack of alibis was meaningless unless he was a killed accomplice. But that went for everyone.
> 
> Alibi: Titus was often alone before dying, which makes him a suspect. It was also possible for him to jump off the inner balcony himself. But why would he commit suicide in the middle like that? It didn’t make any sense, especially with Reim’s other representative dead.

They had slept on Titus’ death and confronted new murders the following day. The first was finding Hakuei. She had been missing and dead for far too long to determine anything useful, so he didn’t write a card for her. Plus… he didn’t want to dwell on it. The pain was still far too fresh.

He’d find out who did this. He’d avenge her. It didn’t matter who it was or why they killed her. He’d avenge her.

He looked to Sharrkan’s notes.

> Sharrkan: Died on the fourth day. The only suspects were Sinbad, Ja’far, and Judar, as was quickly becoming usual.
> 
> Alibi: This is a legitimate question. As Sinbad and Ja’far’s close companion, Sharrkan is also under direct suspicion of murder.

However, Hakuryuu couldn’t recall Barbarossa ever sparing Sharrkan more than a glance, so… if Sharrkan killed anyone, it was most likely one of the others. But Sharrkan had bragged about his ability with a sword, hadn’t he? Perhaps he was just as likely to be guilty as anyone else… but it didn’t matter much now. Because Sharrkan was dead, and the dead couldn’t be punished for their crimes.

Yes, it was possible that Sharrkan was an accomplice. Entirely possible. But as long as he wasn’t the only murderer, Hakuryuu would find and punish whoever had killed his sister, or even helped cover her death.

Next was Yamraiha.

> Yamraiha: Died around when Sharrkan died on the fourth day. There are two possibilities for the exact time: if Sharrkan wasn’t involved, he could have died before Yamraiha. If Sharrkan was involved, he would have killed her before leaving his room, then be killed once he was out. Unlike some of the other deaths, it was most likely possible for Sharrkan to stab through his own head. He would have only had to place the knife on the wall, then slam his head into it.
> 
> Alibi: Much like Titus, Yamraiha was also often alone. But her strength was questionable, and the likelihood of her being involved plummeted with her death. There was no reason for her to kill if she would just be killed in return.

But back to Sharrkan’s death. Murder or suicide?

Whether Sharrkan stabbed himself or someone else did it, it’d leave bloodstains across the room in varying locations and patterns. But the whole kitchen was stained black with ash now. It was extremely difficult to tell where the bloodstains had been, if it was possible at all.

Of course he wanted to try to confirm it one way or another, but Hakuryuu wasn’t sure that it was a good move to leave his room on his own to investigate more. Not until he knew enough to be able to negotiate with the killer if they locked eyes in an empty corridor.

Time would tell even if he didn’t investigate the kitchen, he supposed. If anyone else died, then Sharrkan wasn’t the one and only culprit. If no one did, then it was possible that he was.

As for a motive… well, Hakuryuu couldn’t place one. At all. To be frank, Sharrkan didn’t seem to be the brightest tool in the shed. Not only that, but he was fairly happy-go-lucky. Not exactly the kind of person that one expected to snap and go on a murder spree. Of course it was always possible that he obtained sexual pleasure or something of the sort from murder. But for the time being, he’d think through the remaining possibilities.

If Yamraiha had been alive when Sharrkan left her room, that was where things _really_ got difficult. Or easier, depending on how one looked at it. It was a turning point. Because Hakuryuu’s plan to assemble the innocents unbeknownst to the murderer worked - someone had died while only the staff were unaccounted for, as long as Yamraiha was alive when Sharrkan left her.

Either way, that brought him to the list of the living.

Hakuryuu himself did not do it. There was no point in assessing the possibility.

Aladdin and Alibaba had been with him when Nanaumi was found. Her death had seemed fairly recent, and it was safe to say that they’d all been together during the murder. And they had been with him when Sharrkan and Yamraiha were killed. Well, they’d raced ahead just before they found Sharrkan… but since Sharrkan had caught on fire quite a bit before they raced in judging by the damage, Alibaba and Aladdin couldn’t have been possible.

Takeruhiko had been with him when both Sharrkan and Yamraiha were killed.

That left him with the same three that were always left: Judar, Sinbad, and Ja’far.

Judar could not have killed Yamraiha unless Sharrkan lied about talking with her. He might lie for his own crimes, or lie for Sinbad’s or Ja’far’s, but lying to cover Judar? Unthinkable.

Even if the staff were working with Judar for whatever reason, why wouldn’t they have thrown him to the sharks by this point? He was easy to blame. But if anyone was going to blame him, the ideal time would have been after Nerva died, when the staff were at their least suspicious point and Judar at his most. Yet that time came and went.

Hakuryuu doubted that he was the only one to come to the conclusion that Judar was their top suspect at that point. But he hadn’t acted because he couldn’t rule Sinbad and Ja’far out.

Sinbad and Ja’far were close. They could easily kill together. But if they did, if they alone survived, then everyone would understand Sindria to be murderers of the world.

If only Judar survived, the world would probably avert its eyes. Because that stuff happened where Al-Thamen was involved. That was just what life was like in their world.

“……”

That made Judar useful.

Did everyone else come to that realization, too? As long as Judar was alive, the whole affair would be swept under the rug so as to not anger the largest army in the world. As long as Judar was alive, someone else would always be guilty Judar would always be the killer, no matter who had actually done it.

The only price of pinning it on Judar was that Al-Thamen’s power grew with its crimes. The more harm it caused, the more people became aware of it. The more they steered clear and allowed them to cause even more harm. Nobody could stand up to them anymore, and that would be doubly true if Judar came out on top of this. Alma Torran, Parthevia, Kou, and even smaller countries in the Alliance such as Magnostadt were under Al-Thamen’s wings. If they let Al-Thamen come out of this alive… 

“……” 

The killer might not benefit from killing some of their victims. But the vast majority of the people present didn’t benefit from leaving someone alive.

Take Aladdin for example. If Hakuryuu left his room now with a knife and stabbed that child in the heart, what harm would come to him? None, in the current situation. Because he could easily put the knife back away and pin it on Judar if he came out alive.

It wasn’t just an island filled with death. It was one where they could all get away with murder as long as Al-Thamen’s presence was thick.

Perhaps that was part of why Judar had been so apathetic at first. Whether he had killed anyone or not, the end result for him would be the same. The world would see him as a murderer. He’d probably shoot through Al-Thamen’s ranks again. He’d be their rising star, their risen star, their perfect little pawn.

“…Hm…” 

A strange feeling was welling up inside him. No, it’d been there for some time now, like a fruit waiting to ripen. He noticed it every now and again and rubbed at his chest where it ached with a feeling he couldn’t place, but… he couldn’t name the feeling, and he couldn’t recall when it’d started.

When he’d first arrived, maybe. No… when Kouen arrived with Judar, proving his involvement with Al-Thamen.

That hurt. It hurt not only Hakuryuu, but also his trust in Kouen. His trust in his brothers.

Hakuyuu, his oldest brother, was the emperor of Kou. He ruled perfectly, kindly, and wholly. He never gave anyone else room to worry. And yet… Kouen had gone and invited Al-Thamen into the country. Even though Emperor Hakuyuu always had a perfect handle on things.

Hakuryuu had wanted to believe that Kouen did that on his own selfish whims. But was Kouen really someone who would do that…? He spent his life so devoted to his brother the emperor. Kouen should have known better than anyone that Kou could stand on its own two feet. That it didn’t need Al-Thamen.

Unless… unless Hakuryuu was the one who had misunderstood the situation. Not Kouen.

He could see his brother hiding his troubles from him. It was more likely than hiding things from Kouen, honestly. So the pit in his chest grew, with the strength of an idea he’d hate to acknowledge.

But he was here now, alone in his room. Maybe for the last time. It was possible that he wouldn’t survive all this. Likely, even, unless he did something now.

He had to act for his own survival, to save his brothers the pain of losing two of their siblings, if anything. And if he did… 

“…I… If anything, I should avenge my sister while I’m able to,” Hakuryuu said. “Our sister. I have to. If I don’t, then my presence here was worthless…”

Hakuryuu had her killer narrowed to four potential culprits, three living. Only the living mattered - he couldn’t extract the ideal revenge against the dead. It was too late. So he ignored Sharrkan’s name on the page.

Sinbad. Ja’far. Judar.

He ran through the list in his mind a final time, this time focussing on motives.

The first was Sinbad. He had invited everyone here except for Judar, if he was to be believed. Since he had not invited Judar, Hakuryuu doubted that he planned all of this. Besides, what would he gain from it? If he was truly Sindria’s king, he would want what was best for his country more than anything. Was killing everywhere else’s leaders really the best way to show the world that Sindria was the peaceful country he said it was?

The same went for Ja’far. What motives did Ja’far have in the corner of his mind? It was impossible to say. Hakuryuu could only be sure of the motive in the center of his heart - Ja’far wanted to do what was right for Sindria, just as Sinbad did. And killing all of their guests would not be the ideal way to elevate Sindria’s name in the world.

There was absolutely no reason for Sinbad and Ja’far to kill people in a celebration of Sindria’s prosperity. It would be an unmistakable blot on their country’s golden history. As long as they acted in Sindria’s best interest… there was absolutely no reason for them to bring death to their own island.

Therefore, the most likely to have started the murders was Judar.

Kouen, Nanaumi. Morgiana. Titus. Nerva. Sharrkan.

All of those deaths had something in common. They died with their eyes wide open. Their causes of death were all trauma to the head and neck. The culprit used the technique of a real killer, and although he appeared to blunder for Lady Nanaumi’s, it was likely an act. That or a true blunder that made him get out a gun to attack Lady Morgiana, just in case.

Judar had to be guilty. The events didn’t make any sense otherwise.

That did not mean that the others didn’t kill too once the opportunity struck, however.

At this point, Hakuryuu didn’t care much about who had started it, or even about who had bloodied their hands during the past few days. No, what mattered was who had killed his sister. That alone was what concerned him at this point.

“…Ah.”

Hakuryuu gripped his chest. A memory had lodged itself there.

_“Find your sister yet?”_

_“No, I have not.”_

_“Oh. Well…” An unsure pause. “Hope you find her.”_

_“…Thank you?”_

He’d found it odd at the time. Because it’d sounded far kinder than he had expected.

Judar was the type of person who thought it was funny to rub salt in others’ wounds. Why hadn’t he rubbed salt in the wound of Hakuei’s disappearance? Instead, he’d said that he hoped Hakuryuu would find her. He helped look for her, too.

It was odd behavior once again. A deviation from his norm. Just as Barbarossa’s death had been.

That brought Hakuryuu to a tentative theory. 

Judar was the most likely culprit for the majority of victims. But there were gaps in the killer’s method. Not such huge gaps that it was obvious the instant a corpse appeared, but when one really thought through the cases as a whole, thought through each body, lined up in his mind like they were in a morgue… 

It was unlikely that Judar killed Barbarossa. He had been stabbed in the heart. His eyes had been shut.

It was unlikely that Judar killed Yamraiha. She had been stabbed in the heart. Her eyes had been shut.

It was also unlikely that Judar killed Hakuei. Her chest had rotted. Her eyes had rotted. It was near impossible to tell what’d happened or who had done it. But when he thought of that encouragement… Not just that encouragement, either - the number of odd, out-of-place interactions that he and Judar had over the past few days… 

They just didn’t add up. They weren’t conversations between two innocents. They weren’t conversations between two suspicious strangers in a house filled with murder. If anything, they were…

Another pang. Another tug at the corner of his mind.

The culprit who killed his sister was not Judar. It was one of the Sindrians.

“…That settles it,” Hakuryuu said and stood. “That’s all I need to know.”

He left his room fearlessly. Because he could see the end of the tunnel.

When Hakuryuu had left the lounge earlier, four people were still inside. So that’s where he looked first. However, only three remained.

Aladdin, Alibaba, and Takeruhiko.

Only Aladdin was awake out of the three. He jumped when he noticed Hakuryuu’s presence, but before then he’d been staring out of the window with red eyes. It looked like he’d been having a rough time. Well, he was still only a child… 

“Have you been investigating?” Aladdin asked quietly.

“A bit. After my sister died, I…” 

Aladdin nodded. “I understand,” Aladdin said. “My parents were murdered. I spent a long time trying to understand why…”

“Your parents,” Hakuryuu repeated. “The king and queen of Alma Torran, correct?”

“Yes.”

“…Did you ever learn who killed them?” Hakuryuu asked. He’d only meant to check and see if one of the killers was here, but now that an opportunity had presented itself, he couldn’t very well ignore it.

“A woman named Arba,” Aladdin answered.

“…Arba,” Hakuryuu repeated. “Someone you knew?”

“Yes,” Aladdin said. “Well, not me personally. But she was my father’s closest confidant, and then just… killed him. Isn’t that funny?” His voice cracked so he tried to swallow. But it didn’t look like it helped.

Alibaba woke from their quiet conversation to put a comforting hand on Aladdin’s shoulder.

“You have my condolences,” Hakuryuu said. “I had only heard that Al-Thamen was the cause. I didn’t realize it was one woman.”

“She… is the leader of Al-Thamen,” Aladdin said quietly. “The only reason I can go out in public now is because she left my country.”

“I see. Do you have any idea where she went?”

Aladdin shook his head. “It’s impossible to know. Al-Thamen is everywhere. Its members can go wherever they please. She could be in Alibaba’s country one day and yours another.”

“But not yours?”

“No. As you know, Alma Torran is very strict nowadays. Isolation is our only protection from the rest of the world. Nobody enters and nobody leaves unless they have explicit permission from the royal family. I wish we could open it, but… we can’t. Not until we know where Arba is. Because if she comes back, I just know that the rest of the country would fall into her hands.”

“…Hm.”

“Sorry for telling you all of that so suddenly,” Aladdin said.

“No, it’s fine. It was valuable information.” It’d give him some more bartering room if he needed it. “I will take my leave, then. I want to see how the others are doing.”

“Stay safe,” Aladdin said.

Hakuryuu smiled. He wasn’t worried now. He had the ground to stand on. “I’ll be careful,” he promised.

He left the lounge not with the careful footsteps of prey, but with the strength to stand on equal ground with someone who could kill him. When he did, Judar was standing against the hallway just out of sight of the door.

“…I was looking for you,” Hakuryuu said quietly so that those inside the lounge wouldn’t hear. “Come on.”

Maybe it was the look in his eyes, or maybe Judar was fearless too. Either way, he followed Hakuryuu without questioning him.

Hakuryuu led him up to the top of the stairs. It was possible to see the majority of the mansion from there, but far enough from any rooms for anyone to eavesdrop as Judar just had on his conversation with Aladdin.

He faced Judar against the balcony harboring his sister’s rotting body… and stared into the scarlet of his eyes.

Motive. The words behind the culprit’s eyes.

Kouen, Nanaumi, Morgiana, Sharrkan.

He could see the strings tying them. If he could call it a motive, it sure wasn’t meaningful.

Nerva and Titus.

Neither were they. No, neither were they.

Judar’s eyelashes fluttered closed as he breathed out a long sigh. 

There was no reason to kill such a varied group of people. Nobody, absolutely nobody, benefited from the deaths of all involved. But even if no one benefitted, there was still something that could be gained, incomprehensible as it might be to others.

Winning and losing didn’t mean the same thing to everything. That was probably the mistake that kept Aladdin, Alibaba, and Takeruhiko downstairs in the dark instead of up here, basking in the light of the truth.

Judar reopened his eyes, and Hakuryuu’s chest ached with the same feeling from before.

Déjà vu.

It was a sensation similar to losing his balance. He almost felt like he was going to fall into times long since dead and gone. Times before his scars, before his brothers kept him away from the world that could taint him.

But he was out now. Out, watching people die before his very eyes. Leave it to him to mess up and get into a situation like this the second he was allowed outside of the palace’s protective walls.

It was ugly outside. But it was also beautiful in the same way the world of his childhood had been. In those days… he’d never been alone, had he?

He had his sister. His very dear sister, who he would never see again unless he wanted to pick the maggots off one by one and crush her insides back out of them. No, she was also a part of the beautiful past now… 

His brothers had always made time to visit him between campaigns back then, too. Now they hardly ever had time to see him.

When he dug deep into his heart, he also remembered another piece of the past’s puzzle.

There was also a kid who he used to play with. But he never came back after the fire, when Hakuyuu drove everything evil out of their country.

…If he were honest.

If he were truly honest, he had probably never forgotten. Not truly. It had always been below the surface of his mind. But he was stubborn. It hadn’t been important. If anything, he’d wished that it wasn’t true. Who wanted to admit that they believed someone who had once been important to them would kill their sister, after all?

Now, though… he didn’t think that was the case. So he could admit it to himself. He could admit that the opinion he’d arrived at was less than black and white.

If his brothers could allow something disgusting into their worlds… then why couldn’t he?

Hakuryuu opened his dry mouth to talk. Not to the killer, but to the kid who would keep him company when his brothers were out on the battlefield fighting for a world that he’d be safe in, while leaving maggots to fester in every undusted corner of the palace while their backs were turned.

“At first, I didn’t realize that you were familiar. Not consciously.”

Whatever Judar had expected, it wasn’t that. His eyes widened.

“Looking at you felt very strange. But I always thought… that it was because you were from Al-Thamen,” Hakuryuu said. “Al-Thamen, who burnt my body and nearly killed me. My brothers drove them out of the country when I was a child. My… my mother was driven out back then. And you…”

Hakuryuu forced himself to collect his thoughts before continuing, if only to sound a bit more coherent.

“When I woke up from the fire, you were gone. My brothers told me that they’d banished our country of evil. I accepted their explanation without questioning them.” That’s what he’d always done, after all. “Now that I’ve been stuck here for a few days without them, I’m beginning to wonder if it was the right thing to do… not that you’d know that, either.”

Judar didn’t say anything to that, either. So Hakuryuu continued.

“I accepted it when they told me that they drove evil out of our country. It took me some time before I realized that my mother was part of that evil rather than a casualty of the fire. I think I was nine when I realized that it wasn’t that I’d missed her funeral - there never was one in the first place. Because she was evil… no, the root of all evil. At least in Kou.”

“No,” Judar said. “Not just in Kou. You were right the first time. She’s the root of all evil.”

“…Then she’s…”

“The same person you and the brat were just talking about,” Judar said with a little laugh. “Funny how stuff works out sometimes, huh?”

“……”

“Are you surprised?”

“…No. When I think back on her, sometimes I wonder how it took me so long to understand the malice below the surface.”

Judar shrugged. “It’s not like she made a habit of telling everyone she talked to that she was the root of all evil. Most people try to keep that kind of thing on the down low for a while. But… that doesn’t really matter. Not here, anyway.”

“So the fact that I am related to her means nothing to you.”

Judar shrugged. “I guess it might mean a little. I mean, she burned half your face off, right?”

“She did, yes.”

“That’s gotta hurt.”

“At times.”

“…I think it looks cool,” Judar admitted.

It wasn’t really… the conversation that one would expect the self-proclaimed detective and killer to have.

Nine people were dead. The man standing in front of him had most likely killed the majority of them, and he’d definitely killed far more than eight outside of this place. He was a member of Al-Thamen through and through. His hands were anything but clean. They’d never been clean. Even back when they’d been friends running together under the same trees, his hands had probably been Hakuryuu’s first taste of the taint that his brothers tried to keep him so far away from.

What was taint supposed to be?

What was really impure in their world?

His brothers had forced all evil out of their country, but then turned a blind eye as Kouen invited it back in to help them subjugate the rest of the continent. Was that really something pure?

Hakuryuu didn’t think so.

His brothers were on the other side of this island’s cage, so he couldn’t ask their opinions on it. But he had his own mind. He could think, too, now that he’d been exposed to something worth thinking about. And what he thought was that revenge should be the last meaningful act on this dreadful island.

Yes, whatever crimes Sinbad had committed could easily be covered up by Judar’s presence. But the same was true of Hakuryuu’s crimes.

The only person who would never get away from the sins of this place was Judar. Judar, his old friend who used to run through the courtyards with him, laughing and getting juice from ripe peaches all over his expensive robe. Hakuryuu’s mother always scolded him for it.

Judar wasn’t wearing expensive robes now. He was dressing so differently that he was nearly unrecognizable… no, he was unrecognizable. Completely so. But Hakuryuu doubted that there were many people out there who could recognize everyone who’d had an impact on them before their seventh birthday.

People changed a lot from the time they were born and the times they played, carefree as children could be. Most adults could hardly recognize themselves as children, much less their old friends.

“……”

Hakuryuu supposed this was the point where he asked himself if Judar was in any way the same person as back then. But the truth was that it didn’t matter. All that really mattered was that he had the means to kill, and the will to aid Hakuryuu in the only thing that mattered now.

Hakuryuu smiled.

“You’re the culprit,” Hakuryuu said. “You’re the one who brought a gun and the strong resolve to end something to this island.”

Judar smiled, too.

It wasn’t the kind of reunion that one expected to have with a friend from times gone. It was so absurd that he could laugh. It looked like Judar thought the same.

What were the chances?

The first time his brothers let him participate in politics, and he got wrapped into a murder designed by the boy who made his childhood.

“…The world is gonna end,” Judar said. “Did you know that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess you wouldn’t know, since you’ve been locked up for so long.” Judar leaned against the wall and looked out the window, his eyes falling to Hakuei’s rotting body.

They couldn’t carry her in at this point. It’d just infest the house with flies, if her body didn’t fall apart at ten different points in the process. She’d prefer being out there with nature anyway… 

Hakuryuu forced his own eyes away from his sister, looking back at Judar. “If you think that’s enough of an explanation…”

This time, Judar really did laugh. 

To think that one sound could make his chest ache with boy pain and joy.

The world was ending, he said.

Was this how he wanted it to end?

Hakuryuu looked back out the window.

“…It looks like the clouds are finally clearing.”

“Yeah.”

The world outside looked very pure, sunset peeking through the clouds to light a rainbow across the balcony, just over his sister’s maggot-covered body.

The world was ending, he said.

When he took a deep breath, Hakuryuu could smell decay from every direction. This was a world that should end in favor of tomorrow. If that was what Judar was saying, he felt that he could agree.

This world was under the control of bullets and bloodied swords. If they could break free and fly away from it, who knew where they might end up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i very much enjoyed reading all the theories after the previous chapter (and the meme)! i was impressed with some of the things you guys caught, because if i were a reader i definitely would have missed most of my own hints i think lol.
> 
> i suffer from bouts of rose-tinted nostalgia and sometimes go back and read elementary school yearbooks, but when i do, i don't remember any faces even among the seven year olds, and i'd certainly fail to identify a single one of them as adults. i think the concept of meeting one as an adult only for them to be the killer in a closed-loop mystery is quite anti-romantic, but judar and hakuryuu have pretty much always been like that, so i think it's kind of fun
> 
> this is only part of the solution and more will be in the next chapter, but hopefully it lives up to your expectations so far. it has been really fun trying out a new genre


	8. The Dawn Breaks Anew

“…I didn’t kill your sister,” Judar said after a long moment of silence. “Just so you know.” It was hard to keep the laugh out of his voice. Because… it was all just so funny.

“No. But you killed many others.”

“Obviously. What do you think I am, a farmer?”

“Kouen, Lady Nanaumi, Lady Morgiana, Lord Nerva, Lord Titus… even Lord Sharrkan, perhaps…?”

Oh, he was serious? Judar’s mind blanked.

Hakuryuu just waited. Searched his face. Even with that scar, he had the same honest eyes as always… But it was too late to think that. Even if Hakuryuu remembered… it was way too late.

“So what?” Judar asked. “There’s nothing you can do about it now. Why are you even bothering to confront me? Shouldn’t you be restraining me?”

“There are more important things to deal with,” Hakuryuu said. Ouch. “Tell me. How did you kill Kouen?”

“Well, if you really wanna know…”

It was actually pretty easy.

Kouen let him in easily. He didn’t ask why Judar came to his room in the middle of the night, and Judar didn’t ask why Kouen let him in at midnight.

Maybe he should’ve. But it didn’t really matter anymore. Kouen let him in. 

Kouen was a soldier. He must have seen the intent to kill in Judar’s eyes. But he still let him in. Turned his back. Had a death wish.

If a little argument with Hakuryuu could make him that distraught, maybe death suited him better anyway.

From what Judar understood, Kouen had taken matters into his own hands after Kou’s emperor told him things weren’t as pretty as he made them look on the surface, and that their goal might not really be possible. Maybe Kouen had always intended to die for that sin. He sure made Judar think that from how he turned his back to an enemy.

In the thin robe he wore, Kouen’s upper spine was just barely visible as it climbed up his neck. That was all Judar needed to orient himself. He lifted the knife he’d taken from the kitchen while Freckles was showing the last of them to their rooms. He plunged it between the bumps of Kouen’s neck, through the windows in his vertebrae.

Just like that, such a big guy was rendered useless. He fell like a marionette whose strings were cut, face first, into the armchair he’d probably been reading in before Judar came.

Judar waited, tense, watching Kouen’s pinkies and muscles. One twitch and it was over.

But he never made another move. Not with his muscles, anyway. It was a pretty good shot, and the blood was nicely hidden by his dark robe and hair.

Honestly, Judar was kinda hoping it’d be harder. Because it’d be more fun that way. As it was, it looked really professional. They’d all know it was him for sure.

“I better mess you up some more,” Judar said. “Otherwise, this is obviously an inside job. Don’t you think? Hey, can you still talk?”

“…I’d be useless living like this,” Kouen slurred. 

“Sure would. You’d need someone to feed you, dress you, move you around… but there’s probably someone who’d do that. I bet Hakuei would.”

“I wouldn’t… trouble her…”

Shit, he was bleeding out. No, wait. That wasn’t it. He’d hit too high out of habit. His breathing was slow. Ugh, what a hassle. How obvious could he get?

Better work fast.

Judar straddled his body, moved his arm around his torso. “I’m gonna stab you,” he said.

“…can’t… feel…”

“That makes it easy then, doesn’t it?” Judar asked. He took a deep breath and plunged the knife as far as it would go.

Knives weren’t his favorite. He preferred guns, but they were too risky as long as the rooms next to him were occupied. There were only so many people dumb enough to mistake a gunshot for thunder.

He stabbed Kouen a few more times, as hard as he could. Even once he was sure he was dead. Masking the original wound was his top priority right now.

Too long after he died and it’d look like he was abused after death because of some grudge. That was good. He stopped and shook the blood off his hand. He almost wiped it on Kouen’s clothes, but thought better of it. That was a little _too_ ameture of a mistake.

“Are you dead yet?” Judar asked.

No response. He waited for one, too. Just in case he still had a little energy. But he didn’t. When Judar checked for a pulse, he didn’t have that, either.

Suddenly he felt tired.

“…Hey, why didn’t you call for help? Hakuryuu and Hakuei would’ve saved you… Those two wouldn’t stay mad for long. Not when the emperor was bound to forgive you.” 

No response.

Judar sighed and stood. His arms were sticky with layers of blood, and the longer he worked the hotter it felt.

He opened the window aimlessly. Let the storm wash over his face. He couldn’t let go and leave it open while he washed his hands - that’d make an even louder sound than wind hitting the closed window, and it might wake a lighter sleeper up. So could the sink. He heard it running in the room beside his own before he entered, so he knew the sound of it carried through the pipes.

He let the rain wash away the blood on his arms, on his shirt, on his face. Until he was shivering cold. Nevermind that the rainwater was making a mess of the body. That didn’t really matter at all.

When he was satisfied, he closed the window and removed his dirty clothes. Since he’d come with Kouen, he knew he’d be here. So he had ample time to prepare. If he hadn’t been planning this, it probably would have been fun. As things were it was just mechanical.

Judar removed a clean robe from Kouen’s suitcase and replaced it with his bloodied one. Dropped the kitchen knife in with them. Closed the suitcase. Changed. He was set.

Kouen was a lot bigger than he was, but the size of a robe was all in how it was tied. So as long as he tied it tightly, no one would be able to tell it wasn’t his.

Now for the hard part: leaving. But the strict security here made it easy. As long as nobody knew his room number off the top of their head, no one would think him leaving this room was suspicious. Well, maybe they would. Everything a big bad member of Al-Thamen did was suspicious. But that also meant nothing he did was suspicious. It was a double-edged sword.

In the end, no one saw him in the hallway. It wasn’t like the walk to room six was far, and he hadn’t left his door locked. He quickly entered, locked it behind himself, and sighed.

Not much longer.

“So Kouen didn’t call for help,” Hakuryuu said.

“No. But he could definitely talk. So he could have called for help. If he screamed, someone would have come. And I didn’t lock the door behind me, just in case he reacted poorly to that.” 

He didn’t know why he was telling Hakuryuu all this. He was leaving a lot out, too, but the basics - when and how - were easy to tell him. And that was all he wanted to know.

“Lady Nanaumi was next.”

“Yeah. I didn’t think I’d ever get to find her alone again since she was always with Kina’s king, so I took the chance.”

“How did you strangle her?”

“Rope from the supply room on the second floor. I kept it on me, tied around my thigh under my pants, just in case I got the chance with anyone. Then I put it back when I was done. Doesn’t seem like anyone ever noticed it moving, but everyone’s been searching and ruining the dust in closets since Kouen died anyway, so…”

“So our investigating worked in the killer’s favor, in the end.”

“Yeah.”

“Next was Miss Morgiana, correct?”

“That bitch had it coming. Ugh, everyone just loved her, didn’t they! I so wanted to see the faces they’d make when she was dead. And they didn’t disappoint. Would’ve got her sooner if she was ever alone.”

“How did you kill her?”

“I got ahold of their key at dinner. Aliblahblah’s not that careful with his stuff, after all. Then I waited until someone was showering in there because it’d cover up the sound of the gun.” 

“It’s that quiet?”

“When there’s a thunderstorm and it’s got a silencer, yeah. And then I locked the door again when I left, crouched on the floor, and shot the key through the crack in the bottom.”

“Did it have to be her?” Hakuryuu asked.

“Any one of them would’ve done the trick, but I think I could’ve killed the others without the gun,” Judar said. “Who knows. This probably wouldn’t have lasted as long if I killed one of the other two instead. The girl was way more persistent than they were, in the end.”

“And then… you did not kill Barbarossa.”

Judar smiled. “Nah. I could have, but I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Didn’t feel like it.” If he killed Barbarossa, Serendine would have all the power she ever needed. She wouldn’t need Al-Thamen, and she wouldn’t have time to do anything but govern… well, he guessed that didn’t matter now, though. Since someone else had to take their shot.

“…Hm. I see. Then there’s Nerva,” Hakuryuu said.

“Yeah, but he’s an outlier. He was just really annoying. Don’t you think? Every time I passed him in the hall he seemed to think we were best friends or something and followed me around. Couldn’t stand it, so I got my gun out and slammed it in his, uh… middle something artery? I dunno, they teach us to shoot for it if all we’ve got is a blunt weapon.”

“Hence why you hit the same spot for Sharrkan.”

“Yeah! The blood only really got on my arm, even though he took a minute to actually kill.” Judar held up his right arm and turned it around in the air. “I just washed it off in the kitchen sink. Good as new.”

“Did you set the kitchen on fire, too?”

“I left the fire on, but I didn’t _try_ to burn everything. It just happened to happen.”

“There was also Titus, but… all I’m interested in there is the motive.”

Judar shrugged. “I just felt like it. What’s up with the books? Someone’s really killing people, and you’re handing out adventure fiction? Ughh.”

“…Did you also ‘feel like’ killing Yamraiha? I realize that the likelihood of you actually killing her is extremely low, but I’m curious if you would have.”

Judar huffed. “I just wanted to see how she’d react to her boytoy dying. But I couldn’t. Ughh.”

He hadn’t killed her, but yeah, he’d meant to. Eventually. Probably? Really depended on how things turned out, and if he still felt like it when he got the chance.

The same went for Takeruhiko. He really did mean to get around to him, but he was still more interesting alive than dead. The same went for Alibobo and Aladdin. They were so upset by the muscle girl’s death that they stopped being boring and became interesting again.

Ja’far and Sinbad were different, though. If one died, he’d immediately become the unmistakable culprit to everyone involved. So getting rid of either of them was really tricky.

“That brings us to the other killer,” Hakuryuu said.

Judar nodded. “Do you know which one of them it is?”

“I only figured it out a little bit ago,” Hakuryuu said. “But when I really think about it, there’s only one of them that _could_ have done it.”

Judar nodded. Everyone was stumped about Barbarossa and Hakuei, so he was probably talking about Yamraiha.

Yamraiha… man, he’d wanted to see her reaction to Sharrkan dying so badly, too. He wanted to see how princesses reacted when the last knight who vowed to protect them died. He wouldn’t get to now, though… 

Judar thought of Sharrkan for a moment. Thought of their last conversation. Maybe it was their first, too. He couldn’t remember. The first thing he remembered saying to him was after he already shot the first bullet, which he’d needed to stun him enough to get close.

“You can’t use a knife with a bullet in your arm,” Judar said. Because Sharrkan had stubbornly gripped a kitchen knife despite the bullet’s pain, still aiming to play the part of the knight in shining armor.

“What… do you hope to accomplish?” Sharrkan had asked through his teeth.

“Huh? Uh…”

“You don’t even know that? I’m… I’m going to kill you! I’ll protect everyone!”

Sharrkan staggered forward at an angle thanks to his wound, and Judar shot again. It hit the side of Sharrkan’s head, just where he wanted it to. But if he left things like that, everyone’d start looking for the gun again. So he grabbed the same kitchen knife that Sharrkan had tried to attack him with and shoved it through the bullet hole. It was a little hard to get in, but he made it work. 

Then he rolled Sharrkan over to his side. Nobody cared enough to move the last few bodies, so maybe they’d miss the bullet in his arm if he just put it below him?

Yeah, it’d probably work. If not, then, well, he’d live. Or not. All plans were foolproof if he didn’t care all too much where they ended.

If possible, he would’ve liked to avoid the gun in the first place. But Sharrkan was rash and tried to lunge so he had to use it.

That was the problem with those types. They got big heads at home because everyone said everything nobles did was great, but in reality, very little of it was worth mentioning. Sure, Sharrkan knew some fancy moves with a sword. But that didn’t really translate to the kind of combat he’d experience in a situation like this.

In the first place, how could anyone prepare for a situation like this? It was abnormal from start to finish. And Sharrkan’s mind had been too focused on cooking to translate easily to battle. That was part of why he picked that particular time to do it. The other was that his little thing with the girl from Magnostadt was seriously getting obnoxious.

Sharrkan was someone that Judar had initially judged as strong. So he took measures to make him less strong. He didn’t want his plan to fail due to being overpowered. That’d be so annoying that he wouldn’t be able to stand it. So he did want to win their little fight. That was why he brought his gun along. Though he’d wanted to avoid using it if he could.

“So what are you going to do now? Confront the other guy?” Judar asked. “Even if you do, you’ll have to deal with me later. Even your brothers would have me killed at this point. No one’s _that_ nice.”

“They would have,” Hakuryuu agreed. “But you must be aware by now. I’m not my brothers.”

“Of course you’re not. I wouldn’t have told them anything. But you—” Judar stopped. No, no. 

“But I—?”

“Nothing. You’re gonna avenge your sister, right? You can’t do anything alone. But if you use me, you can.” 

Hakuryuu smiled. It looked forced. “Then let’s go see him.”

Judar followed Hakuryuu’s lead, which ended up taking him to Sinbad’s room. Hakuryuu knocked first, then when no one answered, gave up and tried the knob.

“…It’s open,” Hakuryuu said. “Be ready.”

Judar nodded.

Hakuryuu opened the door slowly… to something unexpected.

“…I didn’t do it,” Judar said instinctively.

“I know.”

“He must’ve done it himself, right?”

“Most likely,” Hakuryuu said. He took a cautious step inside. Judar followed, one soft step behind him.

The room was very clean. Cleaner than it was the last time they peeked into Sinbad’s room - it had been tidied since then. Ja’far was lying on the floor, with one end of a rope tied to his neck and another to one of the canopy bed’s bedposts. There was a simple folded paper in the middle of the neatly made bed.

Hakuryuu opened it up without a care to read Ja’far’s final, most private words.

> Sin,
> 
> I’m sorry. I told you that I’d kill you if you ever went astray, but I’m not really strong enough to do that. I can’t bear to see you like this, but I wouldn’t be able to bear it if you died, either.
> 
> Yours,  
>  Ja’far 

Hakuryuu refolded the letter and placed it back on the bed.

“You’re gonna leave it for him?”

“I doubt he’ll ever get the chance to read it.”

“Yeah. I guess he won’t,” Judar agreed.

There was nothing else to do. The body was long since cold. But even if it weren’t, there was no point in trying to save him. Because he still wouldn’t be able to cope with the reality of their situation. It was best to let dead fish float.

“…I can smell the rot,” Hakuryuu said. He lifted his head and looked around. Eventually his gaze settled on the walk-in closet. “That must be… where my sister was kept.”

That made sense. In that case, Sinbad telling Ja’far to sleep in his room if the other one smelled too strongly of rot was probably a pretty big punch to the gut.

Hakuryuu looked around in the closet for a moment. “There’s blood everywhere,” he said. “Most likely she was stabbed to death in this very room, then left for days to come…”

“……”

“To draw out the original killer, I suppose,” Hakuryuu finally said. It was impressive how well he was keeping his cool despite the circumstances. He swallowed any tears he wanted to cry and nodded to Judar. It was time to go.

When they left and stood at the top of the stairs, their goal was at the bottom, making his way for the lounge.

“Sinbad!” Hakuryuu called down. “Please wait a moment.”

Sinbad looked up at them, a smile stiff on his face. “You two are a rare combination.”

Judar couldn’t help but laugh under his breath. If only Sinbad knew.

They descended the stairs together. Apparently Aladdin, Alibaba, and Takeruhiko heard them from the parlor’s open door, because they came out as well.

Everyone was ready, then. Time for the grand finale.

“I believe we have quite a bit to talk about,” Hakuryuu said.

“Yes. We do,” Sinbad said simply.

“…Wait,” Alibaba said. “Shouldn’t we get Ja’far first?”

“He’s dead,” Hakuryuu said. “Suicide.”

“…I see,” Sinbad said.

“You’re not surprised,” Aladdin said quietly.

“No. No, I’m not,” Sinbad admitted. “He’s been awfully tired… There’s nothing we can do if he chooses to rest.”

“As you can see,” Hakuryuu said, “Sinbad knows a bit more than he’s letting on.”

Sinbad didn’t deny it.

“He is also my sister’s killer,” Hakuryuu said. The calm in his voice was a careful construct. THe anger wasn’t. “Likely to get another able-general of Kou’s out of the way…”

But only because he’d be able to pin it on Kouen’s killer. Though Hakuryuu wasn’t about to mention that detail, was he? Judar didn’t know if Hakuryuu realized it himself or not. Either way, he seemed happy to blame Sinbad for it. Apparently he wasn’t the only one.

“Thought so,” Takeruhiko spat. “You’re the one who killed Yamraiha too, aren’t you?”

Sinbad looked around, meeting each and every one of their doubtful eyes.

It was weird. There was a time where Judar might have defended him. But right now he had no such desire.

After he left Kou, Judar met Sinbad many times. He’d always been on his own side - the side of justice. But now, Judar wasn’t so sure. He saw one of Arba’s letters once. Addressed to Sinbad. He hadn’t read it, but it left a bad taste in his mouth.

All it took was one touch, huh? One touch was enough to lead anyone astray.

“I did kill her,” Sinbad admitted.

“Why?” Aladdin asked.

“I happened to see Sharrkan’s body,” Sinbad said. “I only meant to grab a quick snack. Ja’far was falling asleep on himself, so I offered to get something for us. But that’s not really how it happened. Instead of getting a snack, I found Sharrkan’s body. And… I couldn’t get Yamraiha’s pain out of my head the second I saw him.”

“So you decided to kill her?” Alibaba asked. “That doesn’t… that doesn’t make any sense!”

“Doesn’t it? Listen, Alibaba. If you could have died before Morgiana, you never would have had to feel the pain of her dying. You could have lived a far easier life for it, even if it was a few days shorter.”

“But… but you can’t just decide that for someone else!”

“She was already breaking,” Sinbad said. “We all knew it. Think about it for a minute. Should we really leave the world’s most inventive country in the hands of a mind made unstable by this trauma? Or should we take matters into our own hands, and end her suffering before it starts?”

“…End all suffering before the false God makes it happen,” Judar said. “That’s what you mean to do, right?”

Sinbad didn’t deny it.

“You… you agree with Al-Thamen?” Aladdin half-whispered.

“I am not part of Al-Thamen. I never will be. But there’s a reason this world is ending,” Sinbad said. “Can’t you see it? Bad things happen. Every day there are more than the last. We get our hands on bigger technology, and instead of using it to save people, we’re destined to use it to kill. Whoever controls our destiny can’t be trusted. We need to take matters into our own hands!”

Sinbad took a step closer to Aladdin, Alibaba, and Takeruhiko, bringing himself a step away from Judar and Hakuryuu.

Hakuryuu took the opportunity to speak. “Do you have your gun?” Hakuryuu whispered.

Judar didn’t take his eyes off Sinbad. He was arguing passionately, possessed by the same ghost all of Al-Thamen was, eyes focused on Aladdin. He nodded.

“He’s a member of Al-Thamen now.”

“…Yeah. I guess so.” It was an oversimplification of things, but it suited Hakuryuu’s goals. So it was his truth. He was starting to get a pretty good idea about the person Hakuryuu was now. But it was fine. The current Hakuryuu suited the world just fine.

“I want to finish what you two started,” Hakuryuu said quietly. “Why don’t you shoot him?”

Judar’s gun was in a holster tied around his thigh, the only place he could hide it for an emergency without needing to worry too hard about it being found. In the end no one ever bothered to check his suitcase, so it was pointless to have brought a holster in the first place. But whatever. Hidden weapons were always like that - useless as long as people weren’t careful. And they never were.

“Judar.”

“I heard you.”

It was a modern revolver. They were about as small as guns got and only weighed about two pounds. It wasn’t so heavy that it was uncomfortable but wasn’t so light that he could forget it was there, either. Firing it would only take seconds. Reach down, grab it, flip the safety, shoot. Aiming was second nature.

Also, in his opinion, his revolver was far more stylish than older models. The guns of ten years ago didn’t have the same elegant curve. If he was going to be found dead, it would only be with the best gun on the market.

“Are you hesitating?”

Judar’s expression didn’t change. When he was nervous, it didn’t show on his face. It instead froze as it was, whether smiling or bored. He’d learned long ago that hesitation and nervousness couldn’t show on his face if he ever wanted to gain the right to do anything. But because they hadn’t spoken to each other since they were kids, Hakuryuu had no way of knowing that, did he.

Right now, the only people reflected in Sinbad’s eyes were the ones who stood their ground and argued with him - Alibaba and Aladdin. He was probably just as dazzled by the hope in their eyes as Judar had been when they’d met.

Those two were naive. Even now, with barely a room full of people left, they still had the optimism to try to argue with the culprit. Well, one of them anyway. They’d turned their back to the other. Idiots.

Judar took his gun out and flipped the safety between two fingers to keep the tell-tale click from alerting Sinbad.

Just one click and it’d be over. But… 

Hakuryuu might be okay with letting it be like this, but Judar wasn’t.

Almost everyone was dead now. It wouldn’t be strange to add Sinbad to the pile either.

Sinbad had rejected Judar’s help more time than he could count. But that was only because he’d been fighting on the side of justice.

Sinbad used to be really bright. That was all. Though his captivating fire had mostly flickered out now… 

…That was enough time, right? If Sinbad was going to notice, he’d have done it by now. Hakuryuu was fidgeting an unbelievable amount. Any longer and he’d try to steal the gun away to finish Sinbad himself. But Judar didn’t think he’d ever used a gun before. He probably wasn’t a very good shot, and Sinbad was lucky. Not lucky enough to evade one of Al-Thamen’s top assassin’s bullets, though.

“See you around,” Judar mumbled. “Or maybe it’s better if I don’t.”

One click. One sound. Despite the recoil, he didn’t close his eyes. The inside of Sinbad’s head spread across Aladdin and Alibaba before they had time to blink.

Judar cast the gun away unceremoniously. It’d outlived its usefulness by now. “Are you satisfied, Hakuryuu?”

Hakuryuu picked up the gun while the others were still too dumbstruck to realize what had just happened. “Yeah. Good work.”

How many times had Judar heard those words now? Enough for them to be meaningless, that was for sure. 

Alibaba and Aladdin started screaming exactly on cue. God, he was tired of that sound. Tired in general. But now Hakuryuu had the gun. He shouldn’t have thrown it.

“Wh-wh-wh—Hakuryuu!?”

Sounded like Alibaba finally found his words.

“It was Judar,” Hakuryuu said easily. “I only picked the gun up.”

“When did you two start—” Alibaba began, raising a finger to point accusingly. But a piece of Sinbad was stuck between his fingers, which led to another round of screaming.

Just end it, Hakuryuu. Any more was boring.

“Just now,” Hakuryuu answered easily. “You’re from Balbadd. Can you navigate the seas? The sky is already clearing, so you should be able to see the stars.”

With Hakuryuu pointing a gun at his face, Alibaba finally realized the situation he was in. But he just froze in place.

“Listen,” Hakuryuu said. “If I killed you both now, it’s natural that Judar would take the blame for this all. Correct?”

Alibaba nodded slowly.

“But we just saw that Sinbad admitted to it. We only acted in self-defense.”

That wasn’t true at all, and it left a bad taste in Judar’s mouth. Even worse was the faint hope that rose like bile.

“You want us to cover for you?” Aladdin asked, voice shaky. “To let you get away with killing Uncle Sinbad?”

“Yes. Because he would have killed us all if we left him be.”

“And… Judar?”

“Judar will escape from Al-Thamen. As the third prince of Kou, I have the means to make it happen. He was born into his role just as we were born into ours. Is that in itself a crime?”

“Are you asking us to forgive him?” Alibaba asked.

“No. Just let him go. If you don’t, I will finish what Kouen started and take Balbadd.”

Aladdin and Alibaba looked at each other… then over to Takeruhiko.

“No,” Takeruhiko said. “There’s no fucking—”

A second gunshot.

This time, no one screamed. Because they were expecting it. They just watched Takeruhiko slump to the ground quietly.

…Was it really that easy?

Not the killing. Judar already knew that killing was easy. It was what he was hearing, not seeing.

Hakuryuu was going to get him out?

All it took was a few words all this time?

What the hell… all this time, just a few words could have… 

“…There’s no way I can accept that,” Judar muttered. He glared at Alibaba and Aladdin. Stop _pitying_ him. “I killed her. That red-head that was always with you. I heard her bragging about how she’d protect you all the time. I had to steal your key while we were eating and shoot her while she was showering. Otherwise she would’ve outpowered me for sure.”

“Judar, you idiot!”

He ignored Hakuryuu. “I crouched down and shot when her back was turned so I could hit her brainstem. With that out of the way, she couldn’t breath, and suffocated before the b—”  
Alibaba punched him in the face, knocking him down.

From his point on the floor, under Alibaba, he could see tears of frustration welling up in Hakuryuu’s eyes. He still cried when he was upset, huh? Alibaba was grabbing his collar really hard. It made it hard to keep talking. But he did. “Then I left her where she crumpled… I wanted to make a gross murder scene. I wanted you to have to think about it this time, since Kouen’s robe hid most of it… urgh…”

“Why?” Alibaba asked, shaking his collar. His voice cracked and wobbled with tears. They kept falling on his face, and it was starting to get itchy. “Why did she have to die!?”

“Wasn’t she always following you around like some kinda lost puppy?” Judar asked. “Couldn’t stand it…” 

Alibaba slammed his head into the wood floor. It made his vision spin to the right.

“I’ll shoot you, Alibaba,” Hakuryuu said. Despite the tears in his eyes, his voice was steady. 

“Why are you _helping_ him? Don’t you know what he’s done!?”

“Of course I do! But I… didn’t you… say you knew someone? You said his name was Cassim, right?”

“……”

“…Just let him go.”

Alibaba’s grip loosened. Judar gasped for air.

“I can’t forgive you,” Alibaba said.

“I’m not asking you to,” Hakuryuu told him. “Take us to the shore, and we’ll never speak again. I will even send aid to Balbadd’s sovereign reign, if you’d like. To Alma Torran.”

Alibaba looked to Aladdin. They shared a long, quiet look.

“I want to leave this place,” Aladdin said. “Please, Alibaba.”

“I’d knock some sense into you if you didn’t have that gun,” Alibaba said to Hakuryuu and spat. “Come on. The storm’s already passed the horizon, and you’re right - the stars are out. Let’s just go.”

Alibaba stood, leaving Judar on the floor. He gave Sinbad’s body another long, hard look. It didn’t take long to get desensitized to guts, did it?

“Aren’t you coming?”

Judar blinked. Hakuryuu was crouched over him, holding out a hand.

“Come on. If you need it, you can use my shoulder. We don’t have all day, after all.”

“I’m not gonna kill you if you try to leave me, you know,” Judar said. “You took my gun. I don’t have another. Shit’s expensive.”

“You avenged my sister. I have every right to bring you into the palace.”

Why? He didn’t ask, but he didn’t have to.

“You didn’t get to see it from my point of view, so you might not have realized it yourself,” Hakuryuu said. “How you used to follow my mother around with that tired expression, but followed me with such an excited face. How did I forget? I really… regret that. I’m sorry for not remembering sooner.”

“I want my gun back.”

“No. I will bring you to Kou, where my brothers scorn Al-Thamen, and you will live. Take a new name if you must.”

“They’re everywhere, you know. And I’m no footsoldier… I worked really hard to get where I am. They won’t just let me get away. You’re gonna have to deal with Al-Thamen for years. Maybe the rest of your life. I’ve killed traitors myself. I know how it works.”

“…Come on. We might be able to reach Balbadd before the inns close if we leave now.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you.”

Judar smiled. He raised his arm. With his vision spinning, it was hard to find Hakuryuu’s hand. 

When he did, Hakuryuu’s fingers tightened around his and pulled him up. His hand was sweaty and too warm. It was kinda gross. He never wanted to let go.

\---

Alibaba had some sailing skills and brought them to Balbadd without too much time lost at sea.

The stars after the storm were pretty. It was the first time Judar could ever recall staring at them. The others had also been watching them as they passed wave after wave. The sun was bright and warm when they stepped out despite how low it’d gotten, but when it fell the rest of the way below the horizon a mesmerizing pattern of stars was revealed. It was weird to think they were always there. He’d really never noticed them.

Alibaba and Aladdin left together as soon as they docked. He didn’t tell them to hide his sins. They could do whatever they liked with that information. If it were Judar, he’d tell the truth just to get someone else in trouble for once. But it didn’t look like they were going to. Those brats were sickening. Seriously.

Actually, the whole thing was pretty sickening. Something as small as pretty stars couldn’t clear the bile in his throat. Hakuryuu patted his back harshly to force him to move through the port.

“There’s Al-Thamen presence here, remember? Come on. We need to find somewhere to stay.”

So Hakuryuu was serious about staying with him. Judar tried to gulp the bile down. Nothing changed. Hakuryuu thought he was helping, but he was too little too late. A lot of people were already dead. But this was probably the only circumstance they could ever meet again.

Besides… there was a part of him that enjoyed it. The thrill of killing and watching the living panic, knowing they’d never see the people they loved again. It wasn’t even a small part. It was pretty big. But there was also a part of him that felt sick with guilt every time he did it.. It didn’t justify his actions. Nothing ever would.

Sick pleasure. Sick with guilt. When they mixed, all he got was double the sick. Add sick of everything for a sick sick sick summary of it all.

Hakuryuu bought them a room for the night and chatted with the staff about routes back to Rakushou while Judar stood back, braid itchy under some of Hakuryuu’s clothes that he’d made Judar change into. He was told to hide it as best as possible because it was common to members of Al-Thamen. It wasn’t just Al-Thamen, not at all, but he said that that was what people in Balbadd might associate it with. So he hid it.

He wasn’t gonna cut it, though. Never.

As soon as their door was closed behind them, Hakuryuu looked him over. The way he stared made Judar feel bare. Nobody ever looked at him that closely.

“When’s the last time you ate?”

“I dunno. Whenever the last meal they made was.”

“I’ll bring some fruit.”

Fruit. So he really did remember.

All those times he’d bullied Hakuryuu into climbing the peach trees, and this was what it led to. They weren’t big trees, but to their tiny hands, they might as well have been a thousand feet in the sky. They never did reach any peaches. Servants always found them and brushed Hakuryuu off and fetched him peaches so he’d stop messing his outfit up.

They were buzzkills. Sure, they brought peaches, but what’d really been fun was the climbing.

Hakuryuu returned with a couple apples. They were okay. Judar ate a couple before crossing his legs and meeting Hakuryuu’s eyes for the first time in a while. “So what do you really want from me? My body? I can give it to you. Or do you want me to keep killing for you? That’s fine, I guess, if you think a third prince needs an assassin.”

“That’s not why I…” 

“Then what is?” Judar asked, inching closer. He could hear Hakuryuu’s breath hitch. So he did have a sexual interest in him. That was good to know. He placed a hand on Hakuryuu’s shoulder. He could smell his sweat. It was unpleasant. Almost as much as Sharrkan’s.

“…I missed you,” Hakuryuu confessed. “Or… or maybe just the concept of you…”

That wasn’t what he expected to hear at all.

“I remember all those days we spent laughing and playing together. You were a terrible influence, always trying to get me to skip my classes.”

“You never did,” Judar said. Why did his mouth only dry out now? They should’ve gotten water to drink with their fruit.

“But I remembered. Since that time, I never played with anyone my age. My siblings live in another world. One more beautiful than mine. I’m hardly ever allowed to leave the palace. It’s tiresome. There’s very little in my life that I decided of my own free will…”

“Yeah,” Judar agreed. “Being stuck in one place is the worst.”

Hakuryuu turned to him. His face was close. “This is what I want to do. So if you don’t know what to do, I’ll decide for you,” Hakuryuu said. Judar could feel his warm breath on his face with every word.

…Some of what he was saying was probably just attraction talking. Another part was probably the desire to find someone to fill the gaping hole of his sister’s death. The rest of it… it was hard to say. Was it really okay to believe in a brighter future? One where there was someone who wanted to see him every morning, despite knowing what he’d done?

It sounded too good to be true. No, it definitely was.

They shared a room for the night, but Judar couldn’t sleep. He rose from bed in the middle of the night to stand by the window.

Nobody was awake so late. Even Hakuryuu was dozing, though Judar was pretty sure he had tried really hard to stay awake and keep watch. Because he still thought Judar might try to kill. But in the end he relaxed a little too much and dozed off, despite the threat.

Right, his gun was somewhere in the room. He could easily take it and shoot himself. Shoot Hakuryuu. If he wanted. He could steal his gun back and shoot the emperor. He could single-handedly change the flow of the world. But he already did that. With Sindria. With Sinbad. And Kouen and Morgiana and Nanaumi and Nerva and Titus and Sharrkan.

Judar’s stomach tensed. He was getting tired of the smell of blood mixed with sweat. The current mixture was much better. Still harsh, still made his heart race. But for entirely different reasons.

Judar would accompany Hakuryuu to Rakushou. The emperor could judge him. He was curious what the result would be. Were his crimes inexcusable, or were they just favorable enough for Kou to be pardoned? Even now, he had a sick curiosity in watching the world unfold by the gun in his hand.

\---

“Prostrate yourself before His Highness the Emperor,” a guard half-whispered. It was an ugly and harsh sound. Judar didn’t kneel.

“I’m Judar,” he said. “I killed six people, including Kouen. That’s why Hakuryuu brought me here.”

Hakuryuu didn’t scold him for introducing himself like that. Neither did the emperor.

“I am led to believe that you killed Kouen as a result of his involvement in Al-Thamen.”

“You could say that.”

“And yet you yourself have the obvious appearance of one of their disciples.”

Judar tossed his braid back over his shoulder. “I just like long hair. Is there something wrong with that?”

“Bare your forehead to me.”

Judar did so. The emperor - Hakuyuu, if he recalled correctly, nodded. 

“I see. And you killed the man who killed my sister as well. Correct?”

“Yeah. I guess I did.” Hakuryuu’s the one who told him to, though.

“…I will allow you to live on our soil,” the emperor said. “I read Hakuryuu’s report. It is clear to me that you were bound by fate to kill for an organization you do not believe in. That pressure could drive any sane man to do horrible things.”

The silence after the emperor spoke, after his voice finished echoing, was deafening. It made his ears ring. He wanted to tear them right off.

“That is why I forgive you. For killing Kouen and for killing others. My brother believes in you, and so I will place my trust in you in turn. But you must not cause trouble. If anything seems amiss, you will be slain immediately. Do you understand?”

“Yeah,” Judar said.

It was a weird feeling. Maybe it was good. His sweat was cold and he felt sick to his stomach, but it felt good. Like the noose around his neck had finally been loosened.

To have his sins acknowledged and forgiven. To be trusted by another human being. It felt good.

He did kill a lot of people. But from this day on, he’d be a new person. His own person. Not another puppet of an organization he’d never believed in.

Hakuryuu’s hand found his back. It was already a familiar gesture, even if he was often heavy-handed and left Judar sore. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll show you to your room. Tomorrow, I’ll have some paperwork for you, too.”

“Paperwork? Seriously? You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”

“Shut up. Signing a few documents is really the least you could do. It’s a lot of papers, but I’m sure you can handle it.”

For the first time in a very, very long time, Judar smiled. The warm sun through the windows and Hakuryuu’s warm hand. The vague smell of incense from his childhood. Call him crazy, but it felt as if he’d finally come home from a very long and tiring journey.

Hakuryuu had the wrong idea. The journey didn’t end just because he was there to help. It would have ended anyway. But Judar wasn’t opposed to this kind of ending, even if it didn’t fit him at all. Even if he was the last person who should have benefited from the ordeal.

But that was the kind of place this fragile world was. The only people who came out on top were the people who shouldn’t have.

Judar had accompanied Kouen to the island on simple orders: strengthen the organization’s alliance with Kou, and if possible, dispose of its enemies in the process.

It was a transparent suicide mission meant for someone who the organization felt was reaching the end of their rope. Because he’d be found guilty no matter what, as the outsider. But if he didn’t do it, he’d be a traitor, marked for dead.

So Judar treated it like the suicide mission it was and killed their ‘ally.’ Killed everyone who had nothing to do with Al-Thamen. Killed people who he hated just because he could. It had nothing to do with fate. Nothing at all.

He spent his whole life killing because someone told him to. It was his first time killing when nobody told him to. It was a little different. Because it let him blow off some steam. Because it was something Judar did, not Al-Thamen.

No one else would ever see it like that, though.

Judar stepped out of the audience chamber and into the new world.

It was a fragile world. In that sense, it was no better than dreams they’d soon wake from. 

Al-Thamen had the upper hand on Parthevia and Magnostadt now. They had the power to invade Sindria, shaken from its loss as it was. Every shadow on the ground could belong to someone whose aim was to erase Judar from the world for killing someone important to them or for betraying the organization that raised him.

That didn’t change the sun on his face and the warmth of another human beside him, though.

The old world had ended, and soon the new one would too. In one hundred years, everyone here now would be dead. In two hundred years, Al-Thamen would probably develop the military technology to erase humanity from existence. So was it really so shameful to live now, while he could? Was it really so shameful to exist in a world that he was never anything but a blight to?

It was. He knew damn well that it was.

Judar was nobody but himself now. He’d have to deal with that for the rest of his life, for better or worse.

From now on, he’d be responsible for everything he did. From now on, his crimes were his own.

His life was worthless compared to the lives of everyone he’d killed, sure. Maybe he’d be crushed by guilt by the time he made it to his own grave. Maybe he wouldn’t be.

His fate and his crimes were in his hands alone now. He’d deal with it somehow, even if it crushed him. Even if it killed him. Even if it was the most freeing feeling in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it feels good to finally leave the island -u- well, it feels alright for some people. probably not so much for others
> 
> i know literally nobody trusts me when i say the word epilogue now but the next chapter is the final one, the epilogue. thank you for staying until the end! and thank you for the fanart i adore it


	9. Epilogue

Wind carried the taste of the sea breeze as far as it could go, but it wasn’t cool or refreshing. If anything, it was balmy like the breath of someone standing a little too close as they yelled.

Balbadd was hot and humid. Every day was foggy. It made the world ten feet away look uncertain, much less the future years away.

Even so, Aladdin didn’t hate it. Because it was Alibaba’s home.

It had been a few days since they returned to solid land after those bloody days on Sinbad’s island. Aladdin hadn’t gone home yet, but he sent word to Alma Torran assuring them of his safety. He hoped that it reached them okay.

Aladdin knew that he had to go back home, but… it was tough. Alibaba was here in Balbadd, so Aladdin had to stay and support him. Or else… or else something might happen.

They went everywhere together now. Not because they wanted to, but because they didn’t really feel safe alone otherwise. The world had always been something uncertain and dangerous, but now… now it was even worse.

Al-Thamen only grew in power. The explosions only got louder. Apparently word of Sinbad’s death was cause for celebration for a lot of people, and not the people one wanted to hear celebrating. At least… Aladdin didn’t want to hear it. He hated hearing people scream.

The world wasn’t safe, and explosions and screams through the night always proved it. But Alibaba’s hand was. It was safe and warm and welcoming. Still, he knew that he’d have to let go someday. He couldn’t stay here forever. Alma Torran needed him.

At the same time, it’d be useless to go back now. Someone had stuffed cotton into his mind. He could hardly think for it pressing against him at every angle. It didn’t go away even when he told Ugo that it hurt, and he couldn’t very well ask Alibaba - he was no better off.

A different memory of the island and the murders hung from each and every cotton fiber in his mind.

He thought of Sinbad often. Of Yamraiha. But he thought of Morgiana most of all. Because she wasn’t here anymore, even though he loved her so much.

Alibaba was the same. It was hard going places and watching him choke up because he was used to Morgiana going there with him. It was hard being a band of two when they used to be a band of three.

They didn’t talk about what had happened on the island the day they got back. They didn’t talk about it the second day, either. But it still hadn’t left their minds by the third day, so… 

“…Do you think that Sinbad really did it?” Alibaba asked.

“I don’t know,” Aladdin said.

Hakuryuu had claimed that Sinbad was the one who did it, and Sinbad had acknowledged his guilt. But Aladdin couldn’t really say that he believed in that solution.

After all, Judar and Hakuryuu were the ones with the gun, not Sinbad. And… and Judar said that he killed Morgiana. But it didn’t look like Judar and Sinbad were working together. Why would Judar kill him at the end if they were in it together? It just didn’t make any sense.

Still… whether it made sense or not, people died. Only four people made it off of that island alive.

Four people.

People… 

“…Mouser,” Aladdin suddenly said. “I want… I want to get Mouser out of there.”

Alibaba’s face was blank for a moment, but then he paled. “The cat?”

Aladdin nodded. “He’s all alone. I… I can’t believe we forgot about him.”

“……”

It’d been a few days. Mouser could be starving. Even if going back was scary… it should be safe enough. Because they’d be together, and… and they’d be the only ones there, unless the police were already there.

Aladdin and Alibaba hadn’t called for police or really alerted the authorities. What was the point anymore? Everyone was already dead. Everyone except… for them and for… Judar and Hakuryuu.

Aladdin did wonder where they were and what they were doing. Was Judar saved? Or was he executed for killing Uncle Sinbad?

No… in reality, the Kou Empire probably benefited from Sinbad’s death. They lost Kouen and Hakuei, but… politically, their largest obstacle was gone. Their other generals could probably conquer the rest of the continent even without Kouen… 

Just the thought that someone got something out of that mess made Aladdin feel sick.

Alibaba rented a boat that same day. It wasn’t big, but it was a modern thing with more power than what a sailboat had. It didn’t take too long for him to retrace their track back to the island. A couple hours at the most. Aladdin had thought that it’d be longer, but in the end… it came into view before he felt ready to see it again.

Just the sight of the island on the horizon was sickening. Aladdin wasn’t sure if it was made better or worse by the large ship. Well, large was an understatement… it was absolutely massive, with a dozen or so sails to catch the wind no matter which direction it needed to go.

“…Think we should turn back?” Alibaba asked as he squinted at the sight..

Aladdin shook his head. “That’s Sindria’s flag, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. But Sinbad’s…”

“…Maybe they’re trying to figure out what happened,” Aladdin said.

Alibaba nodded, and their course was decided.

A few soldiers were waiting at the dock, watching them when they came into view. By the time they docked, they’d called for another man. One who didn’t look like another soldier. He stepped closer as they docked, barring their entry to the pier. “May I ask what business you have here?”

Alibaba gulped, then answered. “We’re… I mean, I’m Alibaba Saluja. The third prince of Balbadd. And this is Aladdin, the prince of Alma Torran.”

The man’s eyes widened just so. “I see… so you were here.”

Aladdin nodded.

“May I ask why you returned?”

“Because… because we didn’t want to leave Mouser to starve,” Aladdin said.

“…I see. I suppose you really were here.” The man stepped back to allow them to exit their boat. “I am Drakon of Sindria.”

“Sindria…”

Drakon nodded. “I’ll be acting as k… no, from now on… I will be Sindria’s king.”

The grief was palpable in his face and his tone. He’d already been inside, that was for sure.

“…I’ll need to ask you two a few questions,” Drakon said. “For my peace of mind if anything.”

“Okay,” Aladdin said.

“First of all… what happened?”

Aladdin and Alibaba exchanged a look, then started from the beginning. Drakon took notes during their explanation, from the evidence to their theories to the location of the bodies. He let them say it all without interruption, and then when they were finished, he bowed.

“I am so, so sorry for your loss,” he said.

“You don’t need to apologize,” Aladdin said. “It wasn’t your fault.”

It didn’t seem like that mattered much to Drakon. He didn’t raise his head. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help atone.”

“There is,” Alibaba said quietly. “Could you… could you help bring Morgiana back to Balbadd? There’s this spot on the coast I think she’d like…”

Drakon nodded. “I understand. And… well, I’m sorry, but we were planning on taking the cat back to Sindria. This island’s usual staff are the ones who take care of him most of the time, and they’ve already got him all settled in on the ship…”

Aladdin forced a smile. “That’s alright. We just wanted to make sure that he was okay.”

“…Did Ja’far…”

“…Ja’far?” Alibaba repeated. “We, umm… we heard that he was… that he passed away, but we never saw him after that…”

Drakon made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan. If he’d been expecting a real answer, then… well, Aladdin couldn’t help but feel sorry.

Being on the island as everything happened was hard. But he imagined that it was hard to have not been there, too. To not be able to do a single thing and think that everyone would come back in one piece, only to learn days later that everyone had died and already rotted past recognition.

“I’ll bring your friend back,” Drakon promised. “We’ll help you bury her, too, if you’d like.”

Alibaba shook his head. “No… thank you, but we’ll do it.”

“At least allow us to prepare a casket.”

“…Thank you.”

\---

They buried Morgiana by the coast.

The sun rose there every single day. She’d be the first person in all of Balbadd to see it.

They bought bulbs from the market, too. The merchant said they were amaryllis with vibrant red blooms year after year. It sounded perfect for her.

They planted them, and then Aladdin left on the first ship to the Western Continent.

He’d come back in a year when the flowers were in full bloom. And he’d bring some from Alma Torran to add, too. They’d make her a garden by the sea, just far enough from the explosions to feel peaceful.

Maybe the world was past saving. But that didn’t mean that they had to abandon everything in the world that they loved.

Aladdin took the throne with a promise to his people to never lose hope, and to always honor his late parents and friends.

If possible, he’d like to help make a world where nobody had to kill. But not in the way that Al-Thamen wanted to make a new world. He wanted to nurture the one that they had.

It was their world, their lives, the only ones they’d ever have. They had to make the best of what they had left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finishing a fic always feels good, doesn't it. i know it's 2020 and all, but ill be back with more magi fics before too long lol


End file.
